KIRITEHERE ROADS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 66, 24 January 1908, Page 3

KIRITEHERE ROADS.

In consequence of an agitation on the part of several Kiritehere settlers and some strong letters which were published in the " Wellington Post'' over the signature of Mr Gregg, of Kiritehere, some time ago, public attention was directed towards the question of back-block roads in the King Country. Unfortunately the personal element was introduced into the subject, and charges were levelled against Mr T. Burd, District Road Engineer, by the settlers in question, who requested that an outside Engineer should be sent to report on the roads of the district. In replying to the charges, Mr Burd demanded that an enquiry should be held for the purpose of arriving at the bottom of the matter. The Government acceded to Mr Burd's request, and Mr G. F. Robinson, the District Roads Engineer for Wellington, was deputed to visit the district, take evidence, inspect the roads and report upon the whole circumstances of the case. Mr Robinson's report was duly presented to the authorities, and at the last meeting of the Kawhia County Council a copy of the report was read and discusssd. The document makes interesting" reading for all who have a knowledge of back-block roads. In the first | place, as far as the personal element is concerned, Mr Burd is completely exonerated, and in referring to direct charges, Mr Robinson does not hesitate to say that he, himself, would have adopted the same course as Mr Burd had done, under similar conditions. The report is very complete, nothing" being left unsaid with regard to the various points at issue. In reviewing the personal aspect of the case, Mr Robinson sa}'s : " I think that from the foregoing you will see that Mr Burd has been blamed unjustly; he has, I think, done his best with the means iplaced at his disposal, and I believe the majority of the settlers, even those who have complained, now recognise this, and if the £1658 of unauthorised loading, is at once handed him for expenditure, enabling him to form the roads before winter, and thus supply the necessary outlets to market, I do not anticipate any further complaints being made, at any rate for another year or two. Several settlers told me they signed without reading the petition, being told it was only a request that road access be given this summer, and contained no personal accusations, but others refused, to sign on reading the contents. The majority now fegwjt- having appended their- n.am.eV* *' In conclusion, I consider the eharges against Mr Burd "of incompetence," of " harrassing the settlers," and "of commencing the formation of Waipaua road at the wrong end," are entirely without foundation, and have been made more with the intention of forcing public attention to the state of the roads, than with the idea of injuring the officer named." In dealing with the question of the loading of blocks for roading purposes, the report states : "As bearing on the roading of blocks, I may say that in my evidence before the Land Commission, I showed that in rough bush country, such as Kiritehere, a loading to §s per acre is not sufficient to make a trafficabie brieve road. The Wellington Evening Post in its issue of 22/10/07, reccom mended a loading of 30s per acre, instead of at 5s per acre, as was imposed on the Kiritehere lands, but this would involve an extra rent of Is 6d per acre, "which the tenants would gladly pay." If the settlers endorse this opinion of the Evening Post, I know of nothing to prevent their coming under the operation of the Counties Act (they at presentpay no rates), and raising a loan to the value of the extra 25s per acre, which would realise on the Kiritehere and Moeatoa blocks £17,500, and making good dray roads within those hjjoeks they could employ their own engineer, and have the work done according to their own ideas."