Patea Town Board.

Patea Mail, 21 December 1880, Page 3

Patea Town Board.

A meeting was held on "Wednesday last for special business. Present ; Messrs Milroy (in the chair), Taplin, Aitchison, Adams, Howilt, Dixon, and Sherwood. 3IEREDITII-STREET IMPROVEMENT. Mr Aitchison moved “ That tenders be called for proposed improvements on Meredith-street, and that the owners of the Meat Bazaar property bo notified to remove the fence and stable encroaching on tho street.” Mr Sherwood : 1 second that, and I have a resolution to follow it . While anxious to sec this work done, I must contend , for the principle of first legalising the road, by tailing the proper action. That road has not been gazetted, and until wo have made our legal status clear I should oppose any actual expenditure bn this work. I must say also that we have no right to require the removal of any encroachment ou this road until it lias been gazetted as a public road. Chairman : That land was conveyed to the Board by deed, and f say that, as owners of the land, wc can remove any fence encroaching on it. lam not. treating this laud as a street at all. The Act lias been complied with as far as we have power to do it. Mr Sherwood: No, no ; it has not been attempted. Chairman : There is no hindrance at all to improve this land. You have a right require an encroaching fence to be removed. Mr Sherwood : Let us have something in the Act to back that up. Chairman : I am not speaking of roads, but of private property. Mr Sherwood : Siiow me where we have power to take private property in this way. I raise the objection because the same principle is involved in other cases. Chairman : I don’t treat it under any Act at all. I treat it as private property. 1 cannot be a solicitor to the Board. Mr Sherwood : I say the Board cannot receive private property and spend ratepayers’ money ou it. Before you spend money ou this property, it should be gazetted as a road. The motion was adopted. Mr Sherwood then gave notice of motion for next meeting, that tho necessary action be taken to have Dcrby-strcet and Mere, ditli-street declared public roads. RECREATION nitUUXD TRUSTEES. No reply having been received to the Board’s last proposal to the Government, except a promise by the Minister for Lands that he would deal with the trustee question while in Patea, the Board now found that the Minister had passed through twice without any intimation from him, and that the trustee question remained unsettled. Mr Adams pointed out that the last Go* vernmont letter modified the previous one to the extent of recommending that the Town Board and the County Council might nominate trustees —not that the two chairmen should do so. Mr Sherwood said that altered the position. He moved that a copy of the Government letter dated September 30th be forwarded to the Comity Council, ami that they be asked to co-operatc by appointing three trustees to act with four trustees to he nominated by the Town Board, in whom the Recreation Ground should be vested. Mr Aitchison seconded, and after some discussion the motion was adopted. On the motion of Mr Taplin the following were nominated as trustees ; Messrs Sherwood, Dixon, 11. A. Adams, and Taplin. The Board adjourned. The mallet used by the Prince of Wales the other day in laying the foundation stone of the new Cathedral at Truro was the same one used by Charles 11. to lay the corner stone of St Paul’s. A Pedestrian Contest for the Championship of the World began in London ou November 1. There were six competitors —Littlcwood, Persiam, Browne, Howell, Dobler, and Howard. The start was made by Sir John Astlcy. Howell and Dobler both beat the best previous records for the first 100 miles, Dobler by forty-five minutes, and Bowell much more. Blower broke down on the first day, and retired from the contest Howell made 300 miles in sixty-two hours and seven minutes-—twenty-four miles ahead of any other record. Dobler went lame ou the third day, and thence forward was out of tho race. Howard also broke and drew out. The race closed on the G(h, Howell doing 566 miles, beating Hart’s time and distance at New York ; Littlcwood, 470 ; Dobler, 450.