THE MAIN ROAD QUESTION.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 543, 19 February 1913, Page 5

THE MAIN ROAD QUESTION.

A MINbSTCbS TCLCObAM

CONTRADICTION bV COUNCIL. The woric of install big Is"' To KuitiMokau road this season has tin fortunately been delayed ami considerable controversy has been ores boned in consequence. A telegram from fho Minister of Public. Works, which was recently published in the Chronicle, stted thai, the delay was invasion's! by the County Courril declining b> undertake the. expenditure of tho grant. The matter was referred to at Monday night's meeting; of do Council when the chain,i ui raid bo wished to emphatically contradict, tho statement of the Minister. The I'aetn were that in November ho and. fho clerk interviewed Mr Donaldson, assistant, road engineer, at Te Knifi, and told him the council would not, carry on the, work. At, the. following meeting of tho council this was confirmed, and the department, had ample time to get to work before, January 27th, tho date upon which the wire from the Minister was received. lie was quite sure the council's action in declining to take over the work was entirely in the interests of the ratepayers, as the department attached a condition that in the event of the council undertaking the expenditure of the grant the local body would have to provide for the future, maintenance of the road. This meant keeping tho road open for winter tralib; and would entail a heavy liability on the part of the ratepayers. Any slight delay in the early part of the reason which hail been occasioned by the councils action had been greatly accentuated by fho department. The department. wan only now calling for tenders and it was known in November that the council would not undertake the work. Cr O'Dwyer said he had heard tho matter discussed by a number of people and thought the Minisfer'a statement should be contradicted. Ho fully endorsed the chairman's remark's. Moreover, if the council tonic over the road if meant, that; the ratepayers in Te lvniti and I'aomako ridings would lie saddled for all tirro with the maintenance. Some idea of what that meant; could bo obtained from the fact that the engineer estimated the cost of repairing the four miles of road at present under the control of the council at .e,.'!o(). Jin did not know where the money was (aiming from to do the, work, ami was. preto defend the interests of the ratepayers in hia riding. People from the south used, the road more than tho ratepayers in the To Kuifi riding, and ho held the opinion that Uie work on the main roads was a national undertaking. He agreed with the remit passed at tho recent conference of backhlock local bodies concerning main roads, and trusted steps would bo taken to give etl'ect to that recommendation.