TOWN ROADS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 232, 12 April 1928, Page 4

TOWN ROADS.

COMPLICATED TITLES. On Main Streets. Reporting to the Putaruru Town Board on the question of titles to the main streets of the town, the chairman stated that after some six months of negotiation this matter had now been cleared up. 1

In outlining the matter from the commencement the speaker said it had been found that there was a half-chain strip of road right around the railway station which had not been properly legalised. The roads in this area were a chain and a-half, but in places the bulk of the metal was on the half chain. In view of the £4OOO of loan money, quite apart from any subsidy, which was to be spent on the main roads it was essential that the matter be cleaned up. The whole position had been properly gone into, and sifted for years back, and the board’s agents in Auckland had reported that it was one of the most complicated matters they had ever searched.

The position was very complicated owing to the numerous small portions which had been closed and opened during the past 30 years, and it was further complicated by the fact that when the railway station had been enlarged provision was made for roads but all the formalities necessary had not been completed by the Railway Department. However, a thorough search had been made, and the title deeds of adjoining property-holders had been checked, so that there was now no doubt about the position, and he could say that there was a half-chain strip of road right round the station which belonged to the town, as well as the chain road.

Further, a properly-dedicated road existed past the Taupo Timber Company’s gate and office for several chains. This continued on, and included the section upon which Mr. Palmer’s house stood, but the latter portion, though marked off as a road, had not yet been gazetted as such. In looking ahead for a further outlet over the railway this was the natural and easiest course, and it had been incorporated by the board in its town-planning scheme and approved by Mr. Hammond. The position at the moment was that it was necessary to get the authority of Parliament to regulate the informalities which had been overlooked years ago. The cheapest method was by a clause in the

Washing Up Bill, but to secure the passage of such a clause there must be no opposition. There would be no difficulty in clearing up the whole position by means of a private Bill, but in order to save this big expense he had approached the T.T.T. Company to secure its agreement to a clause in the Washing Up Bill. As a result of this Mr. F. G. Dalziel, chairman of the company, had come from Wellington, and the whole matter had been thrashed out amicably. The company had had a detailed map prepared showing the position of every tram track, stack of timber, house, shed or tree on its property, and a further tracing showing the board’s proposals. When this was superimposed on the map it showed exactly how the proposals affected the layout of the company’s yards in every detail. The question of a main road through Yandle’s and on to the back Lichfield road had also been gone into, and an inspection had been made on the spot after the matter had been gone into in detail in the office.

The board had been met in a fine spirit by Mr. Dalziel, who had agreed on behalf of the company not to oppose the board’s clause in the Washing Up Bill, which would deal with all the road flanking the station. The road running to Yandle’s would be dealt with when the board’s townplanning proposals were advertised, but Mr. Dalziel had assured the chairman that he could see no objection to that. There might be big developments in the timber industry at an early date, but the chairman of the company had assured him that his directors took a keen interest in the town and desired to assist its development so far as it was in their power. Similarly the speaker had given an assurance that the board was keenly desirous of assisting all business interests in the town and that good notice would be given of any intended proposals.