COUNTY COUNCILS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4338, 4 November 1921, Page 3

COUNTY COUNCILS.

THAMES* The monthly meeting of) the Thames County Council was IxettcL on ■Wednesday. The members are: Crs. Henry Lowe (chairman), A. Alley, J, McCormick, P. Faithful, R. Cox, E. Niccol, T. ijlackett, and the clerk, Mr HT. G. McElroy. ’ CULLEN’S WATER RACE. ' Mr E. W. Porritt, solicitor, Paeroa, protested against the Council’s ojbjjec- / tidn to allow Mr Cullen .to take Water from the Aputa stream, which was on private land. Some people (Mr Geo. Saijant) were taking water from the . but they were trespassers, ■' and were anxious Ito secure a legal z right to a supply, the Native owners r having threatened to pit'll up their pipes. The chairman explained that since the letter was written he, Cr. McCormick and Mr Cullen had visited Puru, arid ,i.t was mutually agreed that the ' Codicil put in a supply from Puru, pacing for same by a lloan over ai spej ciall rating area, Mr Cullen contribut- .' ing very generously towards the oest. —Agreed to.

PARAKAWAI-WHANGAMATA. Mr W. H. Ross, pf Waihi, offered to .. construct, a section of the above road at ther engineer’s estimate, and. to await a reasonable time for payment. ? He realised that the progress of the district, for which he had been waiting for sortie fifteen years, depended ’ on the road being made fit for. vehicu- : lar traffic —Awaiting survey by the Survey Department.

WHANGAMATA-HIKUTAIA. Mr N. A. Palmer, secert.ary of the . Whangamata Settlers’ Association, writing in regard to the track to the Wires, said it was in a bad state again, due to bullock traffic. Writing on the same subject Mailman A. Martin (Hikutaia) made similar complaints. Or. Brunton said Buchan,ans had done good work there, having widened a mere trickle of a waitercourse into a bullock wriggon '‘rack. (It had been insinuated th,at Buchanans were responsible for damage to the road.) Cr. Niccoil said it was Buchanans* contractors who, Had used the bullocks on the road. He thought the Govern,men(t should be apprba'ched for a small grant. It. was of no use fascining the track. The chairman said the Council could hot prevent bullock drivers of anyone else from using the road'. The District Engineer had fald him . that a disused road went Ito pieces, more quickly thpn any other. Cr. McCormick said that riontrac<brs should be stopped from felling small; bush on the road for feeding the bullocks.-—Agreed to send warning, and to apply for grant. It was later decided to force those who had put the brushwood on the road to take it off. Also, .the clerk was instructed to' report as to. whether or hot the Council had power to prevent people from using, the road for a bullock track at least in Wet'weather. The contractors could cut a track of their own throiiEh.

WHANGAMATA STOCK RESERVE. The secretary’of the Association (Mr N. ’A. Pallmer), intimated thaft the reserve was nearly completed' in respect to fencing_and gates. He required a set of bolts far the new gate, which would be of kauri, five bars, 1% inch. The reserve would be. a great benefit to stockmen. Agreed to. ;

WHAREPOA-OMAHU. A “careful consideration” reply was giveri by the Hon. J. G; Coates (Minister for Public Works) to the Councils request for a subsidy towards the cost of forming, and metalling the road to Omahu station.—There’s a lot of those kind of letters drafted, commented Cr, McCormifek. ALLEGED STREAM POLLUTION. Twenty-four residents of Tptara and Puriri ridings petitioned against allowing deposit of whey from the Matatoki cheese factory being put in the Matatoki s.tream 1 . Cr. Cox said the practise was in danger of becoming a gr;eat nuisance, and would have to stopped. Hundreds of gallons of Whey had been put in daily. Cr. McCormick said the people' were not taking the precautions “ they should; the Whey could be taken back to the farms. Cr. Faithful, said it was the suppliers themselves put the whey into the creek, refusing to? take ittipfob; these-were some of the men who h.ad signed the petition,,—Letter of protest to be sefi.t t'p' factory manager ; failing immediate stoppage of the practise, the Health Department to be written to. 1 \ WHAREPOA ROAD. Mr Brunton emphatically laid it down that the Wharepoa-Road, to the ferry, ihust be put in order. It carried the main traffic from the adjacent portion o£_.the Plains, and he suggested a sjfecial rating area. It was remarked that the erection of the . Puriri bridge would take the traffic off the Wharepoa Road;

•/ Cr.- Faithful said there was a lot of timber cartage over the road, from Wharepoa to Ngat,ea, by the N.Z. Cooperative Dairy Co., Ltd. The matter was left to the chairman to formulate a proposal. OHINEMURI?\ The nionthly meeting of the Ohinemuri County Council was held at Paeroa yesterday. The members are : Crs. A. R. Robinson (chairman), S. H. Morgan, J.. Johnson, W. F. Johnstone, P. Grace, A. McGuire; country clerk, Mr R. W. Evans.county engineer, Mr E. Shaw (absent on leave) ; foreman, Mr E. Crawford. Land settlement. The paeroa Chamber of Commerce secretary (Mr Jas., Couper) forwarded the following resolution by his Chamber: “That the attention of the Crown Land Board be drawn to the increasing menace from the blackberry pest on unoccupied lands formerly 'laid off for mining purposes, and that the Board be requested to take steps t°

have the land opened for occupation by adjoining owners and others willing to lake them up upon condition that, the blackberries be eradicated.” On the motion of, Cr. Grace, the Chamber’s resolution was supported.

Cr. Grace said the Crown Lands Department put up all sorts of restrictions against settlement, and then expected occupiers to pay for the privilege of clearing away the blackberries,. TIMBER AND FLAX Mr H. Poland, M.P. for Ohinemuri, wrote giving his support to the petition for a share of timber and flax royalties on Crown lands when sales pf timber or flax were made, by auction or otherwise. • tauranga-waihi. The District Engineer (Mr A. J. Baker) acknowledged receipt of a letter from the Council in reference to the old Tauranga\Waihi road. —-Received. WAIHI BOROUGH DUES.

Cr, Grace moved that, the Waihi Borough Council be written to, asking it to pay the same, or be responsible for : he interest, which was 7 f>er cent, pm overdraft. —Carried. METAL CRUSHER. Cr. Johnstone, said it was apparent that a portable metal crusher was required* If there was one, better work could be done on the PaeroaThames, road. But the forthcoming Local Bodies Finance Bi'M made things look awkward. The chairman agreed that the crusher, was very desirable, but the Council, under the circumstances, would have to mark itime.

Cr.'Grace thought the time was riot far distant when both a crusher and a quarry would be required, but t,he present was noft. an opportune time. MAIN ROADS. The clerk’s letter to -the Ministefor Public Works in respect to the main roads policy was unanimously approved. The letter referred to was published in the “Gazette” recently. , Cr. Morgan pointed out Ithat the settlement of the main roads policy by the State would have an effect on the machinery requirements pf the Council. Cr. Johnstone: It wflLbe fteh years before that policy affects us. (Laugh-, ter.)