TURUA ROADS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4519, 24 January 1923, Page 1

TURUA ROADS.

MEETING OF RATEPAYERS. CONSIDERATION DEFERRED. A meeting of ratepayers', called by the Town Board, was held in the Turua Buildings/ Turua, on Monday evening to hear the proposals of the board in connection witjhi bituminous roads. Mr J. Bennett, chairman of ■the'Town Board, presided. The chairman stated that >the Tpwii Board had decided to go on with Mr ■ Skitrop’s scheme of bituminous roads, as considered at a previous meeting. ! It. would cost £4'670, plus the cost of I few hundred pounds— I bringing the tptal to about £5OOO. Five ! chains would be laid down slior.tly by the County Council, and if the poll was carried it might be possible to get more done. This would save much in maintenance during the coming winter. 1 The necessary rates bn I the loan for the scheme would, be 2Ud on the capital value, or 3%d on the unimproved. The scheme should be set going as quickly as passible. The necessary formalities were to s’ee .that the roll was in order, prepare estimates with the county engineer, apply to the Hauraki Plains County Council for permission to i raise a loan, and advertise t|h:e pro- | posal to hold a poll of ratepayers. ! The County Council would then hold a poll. The loan woud be expended by the Town Board.

FAVOURABLE REPORTS. Mr Bennett then asked-.those who had visited Cambridge and inspected the - bituminous roads .to state their views. Mr J. Mules said he bad visited Cambridge, but could see no difference in the roads since a previous visit two years before. The roads were excellent, but there conditions were slightly different to Turua, as 'tlhe bitumen extended from kerb to kerb. Mr A. P. Gardiner, who aiso visited Cambridge, endorsed all that Mr Mules had said. Tn regard to the foundations, he had inspected an open drain about five chains from the I main road and found t!hia,t the formation was pumice sand and shingle. It was, therefore, not as solid as their hard. clay. In his opinion, however, the bituminous roads were a real success. Mr F. Beck, a ratepayer, said the Cambridge roads seemed satisfactory, and he thought the Town Board would 1 be justified in going on with the scheme. If metal was overlapped on : to the bitumen it would overcome the tendency for the edge to break away. I The Town Board could not go far wrong in adopting bitumen, .though it would cause the drainage, board some expense to remove the spoil ' from their drains. I Mr F. Olsen said that streets built with only four inches of metal had stood for seven years, and did not now show a mark or a sign of wear, j Mr Luke, a ratepayer, said that streets in Cambridge were similar to Brome Street, New Plymouth. They carried an enormous amount of traffic and showed no signs of wear. Three or four inches 1 of' metal, as suggested by Mr Skitrop, wpuld carry all the traffic it would ever be called • upon .to do. The maintenance had ! only been filling in hollows that had I been left during construction. In regard to foundations, Mr Gardiner quoted leading authorities as stating that a safe load per square foot of sand was half, a ton, of soft

clay two tolls, and hard clay foul tons. In Turua there were eight inches of hard clay above s.oft clay, so the formation there was from four to eight, times better than at Cambridge. On Mr Mules stating that the Mayor of Cambridge had told them to visit Tamahere and see how not te lay bitumen, Mr Green pointed out. that Mr Skitrop had undertaken to supervise- the relaying of 'this road. The chairman then invited questions. BOARD'S PROPOSALS. in reply to a question by Mr Schmidt, who asked what roads it was proposed to do, Mr Bennett, outlined the scheme as reported upon by Mr Skitrop. In ,a. further reply co t.he same questioner lhe said that the £9OO was a £ for £ subsidy on Piako Road only, as this road carried outside traffic. Mr Schmidt suggested that, the subsidy should be spent on Pinko Roal only, and not be included in the big scheme, whereupon Mr Green pointed out that to get the £9OO subsidy £909 must be spent. Mr Bennett stated that the £9OO was really a grant towards the whole Work, as it would not. have been obtainable unless there had been a roading scheme. Mr Schmidt: How muc,h. pe,r acre will the rates for this scheme be ? Mr Green (Town Board Clerk) said he had not worked it out on an a'creage basis. The figures given were on the capital and the unimproved values at tlhe present valuations. The acreage basis would be very unfair, as the town folk would get off very lightiy. Mr Schmidt said that before roads were talked of it would be necessary to make certain of drainage. Water had been over certain roads in the past, and no foundations would stand that. Mr Bennett replied that because roads had been flooded in the past it was not to say they would be flooded in the future. QUESTION OF AREA. / Mr Mules: Certain sections have been cut. ou,t of the town area. How are they to be rated, ? Mr Bennett: That depends on the ratepayers themselves. Mr Bennett said tflrat what was now wanted was' a decision from the meeting as to whether ,the Town Board was to ask the County Council to go on with the scheme. The previous proposal had been turned down, but now the Board had a better and a cheaper scheme. Mr Mules asked what area was coming into the rating area.

Mr Gardiner said the Town Board area; but it did not seem righ.t. that others should benefit without paying. Mr Bennett suggested making a special rating area, but Mr S. G. Williams said that, that should not be done without the consent of the ratepayers concerned. As they were not present, nothing should be done to commit them. Mr Schmidt also suggested making a special rating area to include them and the Town Board area. Mr Gardiner said that this seemed like an attempt to postpone the movement. If others were included the whole thing would be delayed till about the end of March, as it would take till .then to get them on the roll.

Mr Bennett, said that this raised an unfortunate position, and asked if it would not be possible to make a special rating area without merging with .the Town Board. Mr S. G. Williams wished tp know if the rating would be on the old valuation.

Mr Green stated that the new rolls ■were not a revaluation but merely a revision, aqd would be affected only by the addition of new buildings. The rolls had not been revised since 1914, and over 50 per cent, of the buildings were not on the roll. The rates foi the scheme would be on the revision ; therefore the town area would bear a much bigger burden than (farm areas’. <*,. MOTION DEFEATED. Mr Luke moved, and Mr F. Beck seconded : “That the scheme as proposed in the present Town Board area be gone on with.” As an amendment Mr J. Mules proposed. and Mr Schmidt seconded: “That from the Willow Drain to the Northern Boundary be included m the rating area.\ Mr Davis said he understood this area to be in. the southern area. (Cries of “No”) Mr Williams said he was l in that area, and would like to see the scheme gone on with. He would not block it. but. he would like to see the other men concerned interviewed before being included.

Mr Bennett: This meeting was called and all ratepayers should be present. Mr Luke : From the Town Board area. Mr Gardiner moved as a further amendment: “That the original motion be not put to the vote till a meeting to be held in a week’s time, and in the meantime members of the Town Board slhould interview the ratepayers in the area affected and endeavour to come to an agreement.’ Mr Gardiner stated that it Ih.ad been understood that the rating area was to be the Town Board area. Mr F. Olsen was of the opinion that if extra area was included 30 or 40' chains more reading would be required. A MISUNDERSTANDING. Nearly every man present said he had thought that tjie meeting had. been called to discuss a ■scheme which included only the Town Board area. There being •no further amende

meats, Mr Gardiner’s amendment be- ■ came the motion, and on being put to i the meeting was carried. I The meeting then started to break up, but Mr Luke protested that to in- I elude the extra area was sprung on i to them, and was like a hit under the belt. The opinion was that only the ; town area was concerned. Mr Gardiner said that these men had been invited under fane impression that only the Town Board area was concerned. To hicludc them was an item that had bfien sprung upon them. The position was now the same as when the last loan was turned down. By this time the meeting had broken up.