THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motta: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1929. OHINEMURI COUNTY ROADS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5383, 4 February 1929, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motta: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1929. OHINEMURI COUNTY ROADS.

The Ohinemuri County Council has come in for some; 'hard criticism, some there or less deserved, some utterly uncalled for, for t,he condition of the roads under its jurisdiction. It is all very well for motorists who have been tearing some; pf the wonderful roads of the southern portion of the island to cojnpare the Ohinemuri roads so unfavourably with them. Their condlemnation is just, no doubt. The Ohinemuri roads are bad, very bad indeed, as anye ; ne travelling over them soon realises to his sorrow; but one must take into consideration that at present the county is a poor one;, with the onus of maintaining roads in country where rateable value is very Tow. To moot the question of raising a loa ll is to. bring the; answering question, would the value of the adjacent land stand it, and the settlers in the banklands stand for it ? It is very doubtful. But the subject must be faced; and facqd seriously, without delay. Proc.r.astinati6n stretched! a point further and the Hikutaia road for one will not be simply a matter of thoroughly repairing and bringing to-date, but one of. complete reconstruction. The; Ohinemuri County Council is no doubt attempting a lot of general maintenance work, doing as much as it c.an in that direction with the small capital at its disposal, but while appreciating this fact, and sympathising to a, certain extent with the council, it would appear to be wasting time, material, and. what little money it has got. Instead of a patch here;, and a. little metal there, the whole road system must be approached systematically, absolutely overhauled, and a more effective pop icy pursued. Better than divided work over- a number of roads it w<C;Uld be advisable to concentrate on one. At present numerous roads are receiving spasmodic attention as to minor trivial repairs, repairs which, on account of their hurried nature, are soon useless. Metal dumped on the; surface of a road is simply left there until it is all swept aside into the scrub or swamp, no attempt being made to scrape it back, as witness the Hikutaia To balance this, excellent work is being, done in giving bejtter access tot the Waitawheta settlers and in straightening out snakey Bend in the old Te Aroha road. Advice is easy to proffer, and in having regard to that, it is given here in all diffidence. The whole trouble appears to be that the council is trying to dq too., much with what it has got, tp» cover too large an area. With due respect to t'he efforts of that body, a little done thoroughly is worth all the council has bqen doing, it is regrettable t,c ; have to state, in a more or less 'haphazard) manner. A mile or so at a time qf the Hikutaia or Te Aroha road, preferably the former, should be put in order and bituminised to last. The maintenance cost then of that stretch wquld be infinitesimal to w'hat is thrown away on the same stretch to-day, and the money thus saved could go towards the next milq. Adopting this course, it. would not be long befqrc bur reads were worthy of the name, instead of bringing shame and ridicule upon us. The Main Highways Board, suitably approached, would nq doubt be sympathetic and qxtend its aid. No one c.ould possibly expect the board; or the Public Works. Department to take seriously the present road Policy- No doubt settlers off

thq main highways would complain and object to their money being wasted on roads for touring motorists to tear up. But they musjt not forget that what little damage; the touring motorist in reality causes he amply pays for, as he contributes two-thirds of main highway 'maintenance through the benzine tax ; and besides, he brings a certain amount of nionejy to the district. It is incomprehensible to think that these settlers would act in a dog-in-the-manger manner, for good rejads would ultimately come to them much quicker than by the present method. Concentrate qn the main road's before it is too late. The main roads onc.e completed, the side roads would be attended tq i n the natural course of. events. Rome was not built in a day, and with the knowledge that their council had adopted a definite progressive road policy, the inhabitants of Ohinemuri County would have patie;nce and understanding with those doing their level best against heavy financial odds to make the roads what they should be, second to none in the Dominion.