PLAINS ROADING SCHEME

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4993, 28 June 1926, Page 1

PLAINS ROADING SCHEME

APPROVAL BY NEW COUNCIL. SOME BRIEF DETAILS. Although the scheme whereby the cost of the main roads and the whole, of the bridges and ferries’ of the County of Hauraki Plains would be consolidated and charged to the whole county has not been heard much of since it was propounded by Mr E. L. Walton in September last tijid adopted by the County Council subject to the approval of the ratepayers at a series of meetings which were, to be held, it has not been discarded, although the meetings have not yet been held. On his appointment as county chairman Cr. Walton mentioned the subject in his outline of policy, and the. new council set, aside a day for its consideration. This eventuated on Thursday last, but as several of the councillors were fully acquainted with the matter, the discussion, except in regard to amendments necessary on account of changed circumstances, was of little interest.

In introducing the subject Cr. Walton said that it wa.s desirable to ascertain if the ne.w council was in favour of a county steheme as compared with having the necessary work done, in sections by means of special rating a,reas. He was in favour of a county scheme for the reason tha,t it c< uld be carried out cheaper than in sections. The maintenance could be made a county charge, and this would assist the outlet ridings of Netherton, Kopuarahi, and Waitakaruru, where .the traffic concentrated. The maintenance of bridges, and ferries wa,s at present a charge, over the whole county. The roads included in the. scheme carried the bulk of the traffic, and, if put in good order, the general rate could then be reduced. Under the county scheme the whole of the main roads would be. completed, whereas if the work was to be charged to special rating ai’e'as there might be gaps for a, long time. By doing the whole of the main roads, anyone could get through from one point to Another or to every part of the county. The final point was that by making the roads, bridges, and ferries county matters, both for construction and maintenance, existing differences would tend to be cancelled. For construction costs authority was necessary by way of a poll of ratepayers to take ovey an equitable proportion of the existing liabilities and to complete the metalling. The maintenance could be made a charge on the whole county by special order of the council. The standard road would be a metalled road blinded with red metal, a ( nd those areas with better roads would ha,ve a proportion of their liability taken over. The riding would have to bear the additional cost of the bitumen road. The whole of the, roads of the county would be done out of the funds of the county, thus no particular area would faiil to have its roads maintained.

Cr. Mayn a.sked the necessity of again approving the scheme, as this had already been done.. Cr. Walton said that it was desirable before approaching the ratepayers, in view of the appointment of a new council.

In reply to a question the chairman said that £3500 would be required for metalling Puhanga Road, £6500* for the Kaihere-Patetonga road on a, £2 for £1 subsidy basis, £4600 fpr the Wairau-Pekapeka section of main highway, £4OOO from the Whampoa corner (P. R. Henry’s) to the Pekapeka Road corner, .and £5OO for the Waitakaruru-county boundary section of the main highway. The total was £19,100. For bridges the amounts were: £12,000 for Kirikiri, £6OOO for Pipiroa, £2OOO for Ngarua, £3lOO for Puke a.nd Ngatea, £l5OO for Waitakaruru stream and canal bridges, and £l4OO for the Maukoro bridge, making a total of £26,00'0 for bridges, of which the county was already committed for £22,500, being £12,000 for Kirikiri, £6OOO for Pipiroa, £3loo' for Ngatea, and Puke, and £l4OO for Maukoro. The portions of existing road loans to be. absorbed were from the following loans : Old Nether ton loan, £BOOO ; new Netherton loan, £2'500 ; TuruaNetherton roads, loan and Town Board's loan, £14,0'00; Waitakaruru roads loa,n, £4500.’ Total, £29,000. Then there were existing red metal highways that required reconditioning —approximating 24 miles a,t £l5OO a mile, of which the. county would have to find £36,000. The grand total would be £llO,OOO. The rate worked out at 14-7 d in the £ on the old valuation of the whole county. The new valuation would increase the rate by approximately l-40th. As some councillors were familiar with the scheme except for the alterations and others were altogether unfamiliar with the details, on the motion of Cr. Hicks it was decided that a report be prepared and circulated among members showing a comparison between the. cost of the scheme, to ea.ch riding and the cost if the work was to be undertaken by the riding a,lone.