THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1925. NETHERTON ROADING SCHEME.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4844, 24 June 1925, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1925. NETHERTON ROADING SCHEME.

Once again the Netherton ratepayers have decided to ask the Hauraki Plains County Council to submit a loading loan proposal to the riding. The persistency with which such requests have been made proves that there is a detsire throughout the riding for better roads, and it is hoped that the Council will accede to the request without delay, and that ratepayers will look at the project, from a business point of view and adopt a broadminded attitude and so overcome the various small obstacles which in the past Inive held up similar proposals and delayed the district from making equal progress with other parts of the county. It must be remembered that the work must be done sooner or later, and the longer it is deferred the greater will be the cost, due to the greater deterioration ■of the existing roads. Many objections have been raised against the ridi.ng scheme in the past, and these were probably exaggerated by the financial stringency then prevailing. Bitumen-sealing the by-roads, and especially clay roads, may be the cheapest in the long run, but the higher initial cost, coupled witn the doubt as to the effectiveness of bitumen that will exist in some minds until dispelled by ocular demonstraiton, frightens those settlers who are hard pressed. All sorts of excuses are thus brought forward and’given undue prominence, so that others are persuaded to vote against the Topn. Although the financial outlook is brighter than' when the last poll was taken, it is obvious that, the same project would meet with a similar fate. To succeed the fechedmc of work will have to be brough down to give each part of the district a reasonably good road for the traffic to be carried at a reasonable cost. Ratepayers are fully alive to the fact that unless there is an undue amount of heavy traffic it should be cheaper te. adequately maintain a water-bound macadam road than to pay interest on the money expended on bitumen or other surfacing agents. It was just such a scheme that Mr Basham, the county engineer, drew up and laid before .the Netherton, Ratepayers’ Associtaion in December last. Every settler would be given a metalled road. The main road would be bitu-men-sealed and built up tq the standard necessary to secure a main highway subsidy, while the other roads would be given sufficient metal to earn a subsidy from the Public Works Department and to form a base should it at any time be decided to complete the metalling sufficiently to seal with bitumen and make a permanent road. The rate required would be 2 1 Z>d in the £, and there was no dobut that when the scheme was completed the general rate would be greatly reduced. But. if the scheme was not adopted the general rate would have to be greatly increased. However, that meeting of ratepayers, was not a very representative one, and it was decided to defer decision until the settlers had read the report in the "Gazette” and thoroughly discussed the project. In the meantime the engineer was to endeavour to ascertain the exact amount of the subsidy to be granted. Application was duly made, and the Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister for Public Works, replied offering his hearty appreciation of the I'forts of those local bodies who were sufficiently courageous to embark on a sound policy of loans for development purposes, and stating that he was always pleased to assist them with subsidies to the fullest extent of funds placed at liis disposal. He pointed out, however, that while a promise of a sub-

sidy would no doubt facilitate the sanctioning of a loan as far as the ratepayers were concerned, it was hardly competent for him .to commit the Government over an unknown period of yearn, items under a local body loan could only be dealt with ou the Public Works roads estimates from year to year, aud if the council succeeded in raising its Netherton roads loan careful consideration would be given an application whne the next year’s estimates were being dealt with. Since December last there has not been a meeting of ratepayers at. Netherton, and unfortunatethe meeting on Saturday was not advertised to deal wiht the roadihg question. However, sm,all though it was. the meeting was fairly representative, and the unanimous vote passed can be taken as an indication of the wishes of the riding. As was slated that evening, the time is opportune for getting the work done well and cheaply, and no time should be lost if the coming summer conditions are to be availed of,