Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1920. CONTINUATION OF WHYTE STREET.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2141, 19 June 1920, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1920. CONTINUATION OF WHYTE STREET.

AIR. F. S. EASTON lias applied to the Borough Council for permission to open a street through his property, which will lie a continuation of Whyte Street to Johns ton Street. At the Johnston Street end of (he proposed new street, and running parallel with Johnston Street, is the Awahou drain, and in order to complete the street a culvert will have t.o he constructed over the drain. Mr Easton is prepared to construct a culvert to a width, of 18 feet,.but the Council has adhered to a previous resolution that the culvert must he 24 feet . Hence a deadlock has arisen, and a very desirable piece of work has been hung up. In our opinion the culvert should he constructed to the full width of the new street, for the reason that a narrow passage-way over the drain would not he in the interests of public safety, more especially as there is an intersection leading into Coley Street a few chains away. The point of the whole matter is (his: if the drain is on Mr Easton’s property, then it should he bridged by the owner to the full width of the street at his expense; on the other hand, if it is found that the drain runs along the public thoroughfare, then it would be inequitable to ask Mi* Easton to boai' any portion of the cost. If the latter proves to be the case, the Council would be well advised to accept whatever proportion of cost Mr Easton is prepared to bear. Any argument of vested interest in the land through which the road is to pass is beside the point. The continuation of the suggested road tc Johnston Street is in. the public interest, and if the Council bad to lake the land for the purpose under the Public Works Act —and they would be justified in doing so —it would be a costly business besides which the cost of (adverting the drain would be a mere bagatelle. The Council would be acting in the best interests of the borough if it consented to the construction of the road, even if it paid the whole cost of a full width (advert.