Huntly Road Board.

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 6, 1 May 1914, Page 3

Huntly Road Board.

rj The usually m mthly meeting c of the Huntly Road Board was s held on Saturday when there y were present Messrs J. P. Bai- r ley (chairman), L. B. Harris, a iunr., W. D. Thompson. J. F. r Parker, and tlie clerk, Mr F. c Harris. The minutes of the previous r meeting were read and con ] firmed. a The secretary of the Te Hoe v Branch of the Farmers 5 Union v wrote protesting against the use i of Maori labour on the roads in the Matahuru—-Te Hoe district, ( ; as the farmers who have to pay special rates for the metal, are r ot opinion that they should be \ offered the work, and think that r as the farmers need s ueh work it j should in ail fairness be given to v white settlers rather than to non- v ratepaying Maoris. s The Board directed the clerk ( : to write the branch asking for a . list of tlie settlers who were in r | need of work. j In respect to the bridge across | the Manga whara river, the t secetary wrote that bis f Branch of the Fanner’s Union, | had not gone so far t as lo propose any site, nor L a route for the connecting road. (■ Recognising the urgent necessity for eacli, the Branch had ap- ( proached -the Premier and the { Minister of Public Works, re- - questing them to send a com- s patent engineer to report as to v the route most suitable to the re- ( quiremeats of the district and the , travelling public. The. Branch •: requested the co-operation of the , Board in the direction indicated. The object of the Branch having been attained through the visit of an engineer, the Board decided to take no further action in the matter. The clerk, having inspected the Matahuru-Taupiii road (through tlie Dilwoith Estate) recommended that the deviation < at the Taupiri end be not pro- ’ ceeded with, but that the grant of £IOO be used to grade the present i road, and that the sum of ten < pounds be spent on deepening the drain at tlie eastern or Matahuru end. The recommenda- 1 tions were adopted, and instructions given to proceed with the work. The cleric also reported that the settlers in the above district desired to obtain a loan for the improvement of the worst parts of tlie road, and asked the Board’s co-operation. It was resolved that every assistance he accorded to die settlers. The clerk was asked to write to the Prime Minister protesting against the removal of the sidings at Kimihia station, pointing out that the metalling of the Great South Road, between Huntly and Ohinewai, would cost some hundreds of pounds moie in consequence of the action. The clerk was also instructed to write to the Public Works Department asking what action would be taken with regard to the Taupiri Gorge road.