Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1892. The Longburn-Campbelltown Road.

Manawatu Herald, 13 August 1892, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 1892. The Longburn-Campbelltown Road.

As long as the Manawatu County Council paid the one-half of the cost of the Awahuri bridge, the Manawatu Road Board thought the arrangement perfect, but directly they were asked to go shares in the Longbnrn-Campbelltown bridge they failed to see the justice of ihe rleniand. Finding that the Manawatu County Council were not to be • bluffed,' and thai they intended io compel the Board to pay the share the Magistrate might deem fit, ihe Board went for an enquiry as to the share that should be paid for ilie Awahuvi bridge. In these ca^es ihe fighting chairman of ihe Eoa::cT has come oft" second best, ihe awa.'d having decided that ihe Board must pay one-half of the Longbn •n-Camp-belhown bridge, and i.bac the Manawatu County Council shall pay less than one half ot the cosi of ihe Awahuri bridge. Naturally ihe chairman of ihe Manawatu Bond Board is sore at the unfortunate results of his diplomacy, and ac ihe meeting of the Board thus e?:ovessed himself: — The chairman said he did not think the Board should be compelled to pay half the co«t of ihe bridge. The Commissioner had told him, while in Wellington, that the reason ,the Board was called upon io pay half was that he (the chairman) had agreed to pay half the cost of the Awahnri bridge. He thought the avgumont was a very poor one. The two cases were quite d^vent, because the Awahuri br:ih,i was already erected, and it was only a question of repairs, ■whilst the h dpe over ihe Oroua was not renn ■■ed inthe Manawatu road cllsi.vct. Several other arguments had been ndvaueed, but they were eqnally poor. lie thought the inn tier should not be left in ihe hands of one man who could decide as he chose. The Commissioner had also .said that ihe bridge would be a benefit to the Freezing Company and the Manawatu Railway, and they should he considered. He had also stated that of his own knowledge he was satisfied that the bridge was required by tke Manawatu district. He (the chairman) would guarantee that if ihe Commissioner was placed in a buggy and given the reins he could never. find the site of the bridge. The Board would have to place a toll gate on the bridge to cover the ex pense they were put to. The bridge was within three miles of the Awahuri bridge, and it was not wanted at all. In addition to the amount the Board would have to expend on the bridge, it would have to spend at least £1500 in making a road to it. The Aorangi bridge was of much more value to the Board, and it only had to pay two -twelfths of that, whereas it was called upon to pay one half to the other bridge. He thought if the Board had to pay anything it should only pay according to the rateable value of the district interested. He thought the Board should appeal against the decision, and if the Commissioner was going to use the fact that he had promised to contribute half towards the cost of the Awahuri

bridge, then it would be advisable to a<?k for another commission on the bridge. The matter then dropped.