HOROWHENUA COUNTRY COUNCIL.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 10 March 1917, Page 2

HOROWHENUA COUNTRY COUNCIL.

•OM.DIXAIU' ' MONTHLY MEETING. lioroAvhenua County 'Council is holdings its monthly meeting to-day, at 'Levin. Following is a resume of the chief items of correspondence to be considered.. Mackenzie County Council wrote asking the council to support a proposal for tlie levying of a ten per cent ad valorem duty on motor tyres, money thus collected to be refunded to local bodies, for upkeep of roads.

Levin -Borough 'Council forwarded its resolution asking that the county •..011 noil consider the ad\ r isableness of

"seeking to compel motor car oaviiers to carry an identification number on the front of the oar as AA-ell as the :>ack."

'Levin Borough Council .asked the county council, to secure a raiiroad subAvay 011 lvaiAA'iu mouno.ary iroad, and to vote £'100 toAvards the cost, Ij-eA'in liorough Council to vote a like amount and tlio 'Railway Depait- . ment to be asked to .'find the balance. A. deputation from the borough council /s to Avait upon the county council to-day to support the proposal. Eltham County Council wrote offering to sell a second-hand roiad-roller (English make) for £850 f.o.r. Eliham. The health officer reported cases of iphtheria at KimiberJey road, "Weraroa, and at Tokomaru. The oAvner of the Tokomaru house wrote to conirovert a local report that the house was dirty; "there Avas not a dirty corner in it, and it had been Avaslied with sheep dip." The letter concluded Avitli 1a direction to the county i-lerk that he should drop a line to at 'e sawmill to make her shut her mouth.

jj.iddleton and Smith, surveyors, Avrote in regard to (extra) Avork done in preparing amended plans for Tararuia road extension, and asking that the council pay a part of the extra c:.st incurred.

W. H. Field wrote asking for the council's co-operation in the endeavor to have a river board set up to control the river between "Waikanae bridge and the sea. He mentioned that he was strongly in favor of forming such a board years ago when the river w,a» 'beginning to do Venous damage, At that time, however, the settlers in the Hiitt County would not come in; and Mr Field added that he had no knowledge that they would do so even now. The first point to be settled was whether a portion of the Hutt Coiimty was to !>o Included in the River Board District; if so, what portion; and whether the b~arJ was to undertake control of the river on both sides right down to its mouth. He concluded with the expression of his wish that the council would give the .matter consideration at ian early date. X', M. 'Lange, of; Shannon, v'onipained about tlia state of the top end ' <;f Kaihinau road, which necessitated his having to travel H miles .to get his letters. Ho asked that repairs be effect's J without further delay. _ iHerdman and lvirkcaidie wrote in regard to a road through Mr .Kingcon's property, which appears' incor- * ectly colored on the plan. They rsketl that the title be corrected by closing the present road and taking one ithat should have 'been ;given originally. ( From Otaki, Iv. C. Vegg, Geo. Swenson, G, J. Orampton and !*• Barker wrote as to the need for a road or track to their sections near Taungata bridge. . J Teal forwarded his resignation as the council's water-race caretaker for ~ irokino riding. Wellington Hospital Board sent its bill for one quarter's levy 011 the council (~777 10s 6d). From Koputaroa, J. F. Carter, J • J. Oasey and C. F. Carter wrote asking the council to complete the road I to their sections in Mount Robinson survey district. .. A. G. \Villiani6 wrote from Waikanae 'asking for the subsidy of £25 promised by the council towards cost of erecting a mortuary chapel in the Waikanae cemetery . A. J* tieamer, ship's chaplin, wrote asking for'" a grant-in-aid for the social and sports fund of the second troopship carrying the 23rd Zealand Reinforcements. M. Broadbelt, Ihakara, asked the council to give her an outlet for waters, about 2 ft deep, from the blind creek and swamp on her property adjoining Arapaepae road.

TO-IDAY'S meeting. Councillor Monk presided, and there also were present Councillors G. N. Stephenson, G. ?• Catley, 1 • W. Venn, V. J. Ryder, 11. b.. A, firoadbelt, A. Murray, J° liu Kcl> bell, MOTOR CARS ETC. . Regarding the Mackenzie County Council's fetter in favor of taxing motor-car tyres, the county chairman expressed himself favourably idispcf;e'l towards it, and the county engineer was heard to lament that tyres liad gone up twenty per cent lately, wlik'h seemed to him extra tax enough. Councillor Catley supported the let* tor but Counci'lor Stephenson doubted if the tax could be fairly .apportion. c:l unless the Government took over the main arterial roads. Councillor Ryder advocated tlie setting up of a toll-gate; there wore numbers in Taranaki already. By this the "through" cars would be istruck by a toll-gate. Broadbelt Isupported tffo 'letter; 'hei thought a tyre-tax was a fail pro posal, and one. that would hit hardest 'the peoplie Jwho Irushcxl along tlie roads. He suggested that the Government he apkedl to ltak« lover the main arterial roads. Councillor Monk thought it would bo best to leave out reference to the taking over ' t>f the roads, «iul jhh approve the resolution; the 'Government had, said it would not take the

roads over until after the end of the war.

Councillor Kebbel supported the main principle of the resolution, and ■eventually it was approved.

OTHER MATTERS. Eltliam County Council's offer of a iroad iroller (at £8o0) was debated, and the council authorized the chairman to obtain tho report of an expert engineer as to the condition of the roller. Messrs Middleton and Smith's letter ragardng the cost of making extra plans for Tararua road, JLevin, was read. The master was referred to the chairman and the clerk to report upon. ■Mr W. H. Field's letter regarding protective works and a river board for 'Waikanae river was read. The chairman said that ever since he had been in tho county council he had advocated 1 a river board, but he had met with rather strong opposition 1 ; he need not say what quarter. • He thought the councillors of' Te 'Horo riding should be given power to deal with the matter. He would be prepared to fj'' 6 personally all the assistance he 1 could.

Councillor Ryder .said the only trouble about i'urming a river board was that the boards sometimes got into the hands of engineers who kneiv a lot of theory and very' little practice. Councillor Kebbell 6aid the Waikanae ri '.r should be dealt with' by wil-low-planting. His own and his neighbours' experiments in Chan river had proved that the wil'ow-pl'inting ' device was best; willow-planting beat groynes they found. Counci lor R !.r sa-'d that different rivers inquired di/Lient treatment. Councilor Sicpheom supported the river board proposal, but thought it should embrace both sides of "Waikanae river. The chairman said that would be a matter for the settlers to decide, as Mr Field's letter suggested. Councillor Catley supported the proposal; the council would be followug its general policy in keeping clear of river protection. On the motion of Councillor Freeman the matter was left in the hands of the councillors for Te Horo riding. Regarding Mr Kingdon's property (Kaitawa Survey District), the council authorised the closing of the road shown on plan, and the making of another in its plaoe.

Mr Carter interviewed the council regardink the need for it road to give access to his and his neighbours' properties at Ihakara. The county engineer said that preliminaries to the opening of the road had been gone through already. Mr Carter spoke of need for giving drainage facilities; at present it took about a week for the water to be got off. A request from the Wellington (Hospital iioiM'd tor prdmpt payment of the fourth levy of £777 was commented upon by the cliaiinian of the council as being in bad taste, seeing that the council never before had paid as promptly as it had done in the present year. Permission to remove logs from Waikauae river, under direction of the County Engineer, was granted to Mr Burgess. Waikanae Cemetery Trustees' application for £25 towards the cost of a mortuary icthapel was igranted. Regarding Chaplain Seamer's application, Councillor Broadbelt suggested that councillors do their best individually to help in the provision of games and comforts and other requisites for the troopships to be leaving N'ew Zealand soon. Councillor Catley moved and Councillor Murray seconded that £5 be granted for the purchase of fruit to be given to the troopship.

Councillor Ryder said tliat fruit had been given to earlier troopships and the men never had got a taste of it; it went to the officers. The chairman tlioiifeht such a resolution would open the Avay to many further expenditures. Councillor Catley's motion was carried on the voices. • Mjrs BroadlbeUfa request for ani outlet for water from her property (by deepening the existing drain one foot) was left to tho councillors for the riding and the county enginee'r to giro effect to. Mj- M. Mortensen, on behalf of settlers on Gladstone road, Ohau river, asked that improvements be made on the road, the water-tables cleaned out, etc. At present, he said, he had to carry his goods on his back for tho last eight chains of his journey. In apswer to the chairman, Mr Mortensent said ho thought that not very much money would be needed to give effect _to> the more urgent needs on the road.

tit was resolved that the councillors for the riding and the county engineer "visit the locality and decide as to what should be done. Mr W. H. Field, M.P., waited on the icaunciil regarding the pfetionail Kffiqien'cy 'Board. He .desired to have a conversational discussion with the council 'on the .general matter, and it was resolved that the discussion take place this afternoon. Mr J. Leydon waited on the council regarding Ivawiu road. 'He said that part of the work on the road had been done well but some had not. On behalf of those who footed the loan of £1000 he had come to the council to complain. Some of the clearing had not been done to specification. The pipes had not 'been put in to satisfaction. A culvert ordered by, the specifications had not. been put iu f according to them. A log was left only partly buried on the road: a source of possible .accident. The 1 county engineer remarked that after the wort was finished Mr Leydon had complimented him upon the way in which it had' been carried out. Mr C. Blenkhorn, mayor of Levin, waited on the council in reference to tho proposed subway for Kuwiu road (at the Tailway). This matter lias been fully, reported in recent issues of The Chronicle. Mr Blenkhorn asked the County Council to co-oper-ato with Levin Borough Council in the matter of approaching the Government. Mr Blenkhorn mentioned that the proposed site was at a point where the level crossing was particularly steep, and a'source of danger. Councillor Broadbelt supported the / proposal; this was one of the most dangerous crossings in the district. Councillor .KebbelA supported tihe proposal in part, but ho did not favor

the borough proposal to make "all" block from the north use the subway mid exclude them from the main streets. Councillor Monk baid he ibelieved the county council would give favorable consideration to the proposal when framing next year's estimates. M'r Blenkhorn also asked the council to consider the advisablenes of reuiring motor cars to carry their numbers both front and back. The chairman said that this would be kept in mind when the council be>gan the framing of by-laws for regulation of motor traffic. A full report will appear in our next issue.