THE KARAKA BRIDGES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 183, 31 March 1914, Page 2

THE KARAKA BRIDGES.

Enquiry by Commission. (CoMixrKn i Rom I'v.i; I.) To Mr Richmond: There was a meeting at Karaka at which the Mauku representatives voted in favour of the bridges. To Mr Hanna: This meeting was called eighteen months or two years ago. There was no specified amount mentioned then which other districts should contribute, but Mr McKeazie mentioned that the district! would have t-i be cited.

E. Yates, seedsman, member of a firm holding 1400 acres in Karaka said his placi was about five miljs i'.om Whangamaire creek. The bridges j would have a very big effect on the value of the Waiiu Pa properties ! 83 they would bring the land miles i nearer th2 city. Asa landholder he I would have no hesitation at all in 1 beiDg rated to get the advantage 1 of these bridges Manurewa land was £4O and £SO an acre; the lest Karaka land was £lO to £ls. Much of the Karaka land was as good as that at Manurewa. By b?mg brought closer to town it would increase in value by £1 an acre, easily. The witness described an area, the northern half of Waiau, which would so benefit. He would use the new road for driving stock from Waiau to Auckland. To Mr Hanna: He reckoned the new road would save him six miles in getting from Auckland to his property. l''rom hifl place ti Papakura railway station was nine miles; to Patumahoe, where the railway station was to be, was five mlies. H. H. Mackenzie, chairrran of the Manukau County Council, owner of 680 acres of land in the Waiau district, said he was willing to be rated for these bridges which woull considerably enhance the value of the land in that district. He thought the allocations very fair. Beture the present proposal was launched he offered £SO towards the bridges himself. The advantage of bringing the district nearer Papakura was considerable; Papakura was one of the biggest stock centres in the North Island. (Laughter). "You may laugh," said Mr Mackenzie, "but it is!" The new straight fenced road would be much better for stock than the present road. Had seen fat citlle comir.g through Karaka from Waiuku.

To Mr Hanna: Ho thought a bigger territory should have been tak°n into the rating area. Only halt of Karaka was noi taken in; the half not taken in would get aume benefit. He beli ved that besides himself Clarke wag the only other settler who used his land for fattening stock. To Mr Ptendergast: His land would increase in value by about £5 an acre as the result of the construction of these bridge?. The Karaka Land Company's land would increase considerably more. J. W. McLarin, owner of land at

Waiau Pa, presented a petition signed by twenty Waiau settlers, for Messrs J. W. McLarin and Litchfield to represent them at the Commission. Mr McLarin expressed the opinion that the benefit would be equalised, but thought the erection of the bridges would be a boon to the district generally. He advocated putting a road through Hogwood's property, and thought this essential to the welfare of the bridge scheme, stating that the road would not cost more than about 25a per chain. He said that tha opening of the road would open up ths country. He thought that the bridge would benefit the Waiuku stock trade and corsidered that 7J per cent, for Waiuku was a reasonable portion, To Mr Hanna: Mr Motion and Mr Henry explained that if they were unible to get the road otherwise it would be taken under the Public Works Act, and that if the road through Hogwood'u could not be acquired the scheme would be of no use. To Mr Prendergaat: He thought Waiuku would derive about half aa much benefit as Mauku. The benefit to the Waiuku stock business woud be very slight. He reckoned the value of his land in Waiau would be increased £1 or £2 an acre; in Karaka the land value would be increased by £3 or £4; in Papakura it would be £lO advance. Waiau people objected to being made a special lating area; they thought the whole riding should be in the rating area. V. Paaesch, stockman, employed by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., said he knew the Waiuku-Mauku very well. A good many fat stock travelled by road from Waiuku to Westfield; moat of them came from Aka Aka and Otaua swamps. (It waa shown tnat these places were not in the Waiuku road district). Probably 700 cattle came from Waiuku each year. It was an advantage to keep stock on the road with the least traffic. At present the stock went from Waiuku through Drury and Runciman. The Ruciman crossing was a very bad one. If the distance were the same he would go the road were the least traffic wa s . To Mr Hanna: In the spring Papakura was trc bigg»st sale. Taking them all round theie was not much difference in the sales at Puktkohe, Runciman and Papakura. There were only small bridges on the present road; there would possibly he a little more trouble in crossing leng bridges. Had never had an accident at the Runciman crossing, but several times he narrowly escaped it To Mr Prenderagst: He knew of people who fattened stock on ths swamp: J. Harris, C. Bishoff, Mrs Reid, C. Robertfon, C. Spencer, W. Wright, R. Hull, G. Hull, J. Given, M. Given, M. Dnmgool. H. Wily. The biggest part of the stock from these people travelled by road. Very little fat stock came from Kohe Kobe, Waipipi or Awhitu. Most of it came from the swamp. There were twice a* many sales at Pukekohe as at Papakura. To Mr Richmond: Where there were good paddocks along the road the road-driven cattle brought as much as trucked cattle. H. K. Irwin, dairy farmer, about four or five miles from the proposed Whangamairc bridge, said there was no doubt that the construction of the budges would materially benefit the whole district. At thiß stage the enquiry was adjourned until 9.30 o'clock on Monday morning. MONDAY'S SITTING. Lpon resuming on Monday morn ing, Mr Hanna suggested that the whole of the Karaka road district should be taken into the rating area. Mr Short said so far as the Commission was concerned the Karaka Ro«d Board was prepared to pay 50 per cent, of the cost of the bridges; us to'the mntKMi to be rated Win n

matter for the lioad Hoard. So far a? he knew all the Commission had to decide was which ptoportion each of the local bodies cited should pay ; it was a matter of internal administration and for the several local boilie3 to hiv whether only parts or the whole of their districts should beur the rate

John Schlaepfer. manager of the Helvetia Ostrich Co.. Pukekohc, deposed that he was owner of about 200 acres in the Mauku district. This land was perhaps 14 miles nway from tha nearest of tha bridge?. If the n>w road were constructs it would bring his property at least six miles nearer to Papakura. He certainly thought the roads and bridges would benelit the Mauku district. There was a certain amount of tat stock raised there; with these bridges fat stock could possibly be got to the market in one day, whereas it now took two days. Nearly every week he saw fat stock coming from Waiuku; this stock would bo benefited by the new road. The second-class return fare from Pukokoho to Auckland was 5s 4d and it occupied about three quarters of an hour longer to travel from Pukekohc to Auckland than from Papakura to Auckland.

To Mr Hanna: He did Dot know that the £ISOO loan to which he had referred was especially raised for tha improvement of tlvj road from Patumahoe (0 Pukekohc. Ho understood that in the loan proposal Hogwood's road was mentioned; he was only speaking from memory. He used hi* land for dairying; if ho were still fattening he would use the new road and bridges. Moie or less he knew the exict line ot the new road. By the new read it would be 18 milts from his place to Papakura; it was 24 miles by the old road. Ho reckoned fat stock and cattle could travel 18 to 20 miles a day. To Mr Prendergast: He knew the owners of the stock; that was how he knew it cams from Waiuku. Ho mentioned the names of several stock-owners—J. Harris, Robertson and Mrs Re id-who come from Waiuku road district. It was possible, as he did not know the district boundaries, that some ot these people came from beyond Waiuku. He thought the new road from Waiuku to Papakura would bu about three miles Ehr.rter than Ht present. On the matter of this distance the solicitor for the Karaka Road Board said they did not c ntend that the rondway from Waiuku would be shortened.

To Mr Prer.dcrgast: He Hid not think the concrete bridges neic troublesome for stock; not so much as timber bridges. To Mr Richmond: There were more bridge? along the old road thun along the cew.

Godwyn D. Smith, farmer and agent, at Papokura, member of the Papakura Town Board, said he hud done droving for 25 years. Was quite familiar with the present Waiuku-Drury road. Knew the country through which the new road was going. By all means he would take the new road if ho were bringing stock from Waiuku to Papakura. This would ovoid the railway crossings; he had had Borne cattle killed at the Runciman crossing. That was a bad stock road; the new one would bo a really good one. Papakura had a suburban railway service. Walau Pa part of the district would benefit by the bridges most, next to the Karaka itself. That part of the Karaka not included, in the area would not benefit so much as Waiau Pa, To Mr Hanna: During the whole of his experience he could not ray that he had brought cattle from within the Mauku road district. Mauku district would benefit by having the more direct road to Papakura, by having this route for their few fat stock, and bv tin suburban fares. There were so many special trains running now that drovers did not know when they wero

coming. If there were a railway station at Patumahoe it would depend on the opinion of the owner as to whether tho stock would be trucked or driven by road. To Mr Prendergast: The erection ot these bridges would undoubtedly be of benefit to Papakura. This closed tho case for the Karaka Koad Board, FOR THE OBJECTORS. FRANKLIN COUNTY COUNCIL H. E. R. L. Wily, tarmcr, residing at Mauku for 40 veurs, said he had about 400 acres In Mauku and, other land in Waiuku. He fattened stock. He never used the old road to Runcimnn for stock. His stuck was driven to Pukckohe and railed to Westlield. There was very little fat stock from Mauku; practically only one grower, Mr R. Clark. The new roed would nut benefit Mr Clark; not in the slightest. There was no reference whatever in tho loan proposals of Wniau for a road thtough Hogwood's. The road between Mauku and Pukrkohe was metalled and there was regular communication. The sum o £lO,OllO had been granted for the railway from I'aerata to Waiuku, the Prime Minster had turned the lirst sod, and the Minister, aiidriasing the audience at the function, said the wuik would be proceeded with at once. It was a case of the speedy construction of the railway. If both the railway and the road were opened the railwny would be used. Yates and Mackenzie did not live on their land at Wainii and would be especially benclittcd by extra facilities for travelling to and fro. But the special benefit (.id not apply to the other resident farmers tD anything like the same extent. At Papakura twice in the year there were big sales, but for tho balimcc of the year he thought the balance was in favour of Runeiman. To tho greater part of the Mauku district thero would be no benefit whatever by these bridges; to the lesser part of the dlstiicl there would be an inappreciable benefit. He did not think the new road would have any cHect whatever on the selling values of the land; it might add to the valuation lor taxation. The new road woulJ not bring Mauku district within any closer touch to a railway station. Ho bought about 250 store Btock a year. Did not buy at Papakura; he bought at Runciman, at Pukckohe aid occasionally ut Waiuku. His biggest purchases had been at Runciman, Mr Wily explained that the Karaka Road Board did not k r ow the boundaries between Waiuku and Waiplpi and that a'counted for a good deal of misconception, Mcsl of the fat stock that whs raised un the swamp was from land in the Waipipi district; only a small proportion was raised h the Waiuku road district, which district had been cited. The balanco of this report will appeal iu Friday') i.viir