HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Shannon News, 16 September 1924, Page 3

HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

MONTHLY. MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Horowhenua County Council was held in the Council Chambers on Saturday, the chairman, Cr. Monk, presiding. Also present: Crs. Jensen, Gatley, Hark ness, Bryant, Ryder, Whyte and Barber, , MANGAHAO CELEBRATIONS, i The Shannon Borough Council wrote that at a meeting of -representatives of the various iocal bodies in- | terested in the Mangah-ao hydro-elec-tric scheme, it was decided to celebrate the turning on of power at Man gaore by holding a large gathering at the power house, -a 'banquet at Shannon and other celebrations. It was further decided that the various local bodies be asked to contribute to the cost of the entertainment, the Horowhenua County Council’s proportion being fixed at £5. The chairman stated that he was unable to be. present at this meeting, but the County Clerk had placed the speaker’s view before the committee, which was that be was n-ot personally anxious to'have any celebration. aim that iie was not in a position to commit the Council, who would have to consider the matter as a body.. The majority of those attending the conference were in favour of holding a function, and it was decided to draw up an estimate of the -expenditure. Gr. Ryder said that in his opinion the request was a very reasonable one indeed. The. day would be rather a red-letter one and should be fittingly celebrated. , It Was decided to contribute as requested. LEVIN-GREATFORD DEVIATION. The Foxton Chamber of Commerce wrote inviting the C-ounty to send representatives tq a conference r-e the Levin-Greatiord deviation, to be held at Foxton on September 17th. The chairman stated that the essential object was to advertise the proposal in „a weekly paper. The cost would come to abdut £5 for each -ol the bodies interested in the railway. If the County decided to be represented at- the conference their delegate should be given a mandate to vote ' either for or against the proposal. Cr. Ryder advocated the supporting of the proposal. The deviation was essential to the whole of New Zealand and not only to this district, as it shortened the route on the main railway of the North Island. If the m,alter were not kept before the public there was danger of the matter oeing .shelved and he certainly considered the Council should give the matter every assistance.

Tile chairman said that his own opinion was that the Council should certainly assist.. The district was worth advertising if nothing else. It was agreed that a delegate should attend the cqnlerence and that the advertising proposal be agreed to. KARA DRAIN. Mr A. A. Kebbell wrote asking for assistance towards cleaning -out that portion of the Kara drain running through his property.—-Referred to the councillor for the riding andi Engineer with power to act. DRAINAGE BOARD’S RESPONSIBILITY. Messrs Birnie. Coombs and Wilson wrqte -asking that the road leading to their property at Makerua should be attended tq. The-chairman stated that he understood that the great amount of uns damage had been done by fhe Makerua Drainage Board - carting material over the road. Hie" considered that that body should be applied to to contribute towards repair.—Agreed to. • PROVIDING LEGAL ACCESS.

Messrs Copper, Rapley and Rutherford, solicitors, wrote in regard to a half-chain rigid of way passing Mr C. H. Spends’ property at Shannon, which it is desired to have gazetted a highway so as to give legal access to the property.' They stated that as the ■right of way bad been maintained for several years by the County and gave access to this tarru only, there did not appear to be any reason why ' the Railway Department, on whose property me right of way was situated, should not consent to the proposal, if the County pressed lor the gazetting. The chairman said that he considered that the request might be acceded to. All that was required was the dedication of a further three chains of this right-of-way.—-Agreed to. CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS MAINTENANCE.

Messrs Ross, Rough and Co., flaxmillers, wrote inclosing £3O as part contribution towards the upkeep of the Shannon-Foxton road, according 1 i arrangement.—Received, councillors expressing satisfaction at the arrangement made.

Mrs M. Mujgway, Ohau, asked tor permission m fence a piece of by-road adjoining hej- prqperty for grazing purposes —Referred to the councillors I'd the Ridin-4 with power to act. DONATION TO PLUNKET SOCIETY. The Secretary of the Levin branch of the Plunket Society wrote asking for a donation' to the 'funds.—Decided to give a sum of £2 2s. DRAINAGE PROBLEMS. Mr A. Thorne wrote in respect of a drain through his property which a neighbour, Hakaraia, desired him to open so that he could drain land further up, that tile distance to be out woul.d be some 35 chains through standing husn, and the area of lan i drained thereby would be only about ten acres, and not commensurate with the cost which the drain would entail. He stated that he had given lus manager instructions to give the Engineer every assistance towards discovering if some better route tor the drain could not be found. It was decided that the councillors for the Riding and the Engineer inspect tiie property with a view to ar-

I riving at a decision,, and report to the 'Council.

James McGill forwarded through his solicitors formal advice asking the Council to exercise their powers to compel William Arthur Spiers to move weeds, etc., from the drain, running through his farm to the Manawatu river as such weeds obstructed the free flow of the water from complainant’s farm.—Resolved that councillors for the Ridi.ng and Engineer inspect, and that Mr McGill be given the opportunity of stating his case before, the Council. ,

Messrs Park and Best wrote asking that the Council take steps to compel Mr James, whose farm adjoined theirs, to clean out a drain, through his property, . which in its present state, impeded the- flow of water from their drain.—Decided that councillors and Engineer inspect and report to the , Council. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The County Engineer (Mr W. Anderson) reported as follows: Although the weather during the perio-d just ended has been again somewhat broken, work throughout the County has been carried out in a very satisfactory manner. Approximately 27Q0 cub. yard's were delivered. Of this amount 1400 cub. yards were put out in the Tokomaru Riding, 1000 cub. yards in Wirokino Riding, and the balance in the Otaki ahd Te Horo Ridings.

Tokomarui Riding.—l have very little to report on in this Riding, the main work being metalling. No. 2 plant and two lorries are working at Shannon Pit and teams are engaged in the metalling of roads in the northern end of the Riding. The road roller will br sent into this Riding within day or two."' Re telegraph poles on main road Makerua: I have gone into this matter with the Telegraph Engineer and have to report that the line oi poles on the northern side of the road have been removed.

Wirokino Riding.—A good deal -o' work has been carried out in this Riding during the period. Metalling on the Kawiu Foxton road has been completed and maintenance metal has been put out on the following roads, main roads, Queen street, Beach, Wallace, Potts, Tararua, Poiaka, Kereru, Fairfield and Roslyn roads. One 30inch and one 18-inch concrete pipe culvert was put in on the Hokio Bea'h road and two, culverts were renewed on the Levin-Foxton road. Two bridges, one a 14ft span bridge with concrete abutments on Upper Queen street and a 45ft. bridge on, the Kuku Soldiers’ Settlement- Road were renewed. All side drains on the LevinFoxton road were cleaned out and culverts attended, to. The -road roller has been at work in this Riding during the period. The councillors for tills Riding and myself attended to variou. matters requiring attention as follows: (1) Pipe line through Mr Gapper’s property. After again inspecting this work it was decided to replace the existing pipe with a fir-inch pipe (iron). These pipes have been ordered anti should arrive within the next week or ten days and the work of laying will then be put in hand. (2). Interview ■with Mr Ross re heavy traffic -on Foxton road. Alter discussing this matter Mr Ross offered to cart (without cost to the County) 100 cub. yds. ol crushed metal from the -Levin -crusher to the section of road between Por-ou. tawhao and the Wirokino Bridge. (3) Request from Tararua Road settlers for extension of water race system. Tins was agreed to on condition tiidt those settlers interested carry out c the work to the (Satisfaction of the Engineer and that only a limited quantity of water is turned into the -proposed new race. (4) Request from Mr Eyes tq have road leading to his property metalled. As this rqad is one mile m length and would cost £450 to reform, metal and culvert it would be impossible to do the work out of revenue. It was therefore decided to meet those interested and discuss with them the question of raising a special loan to oairy out the work, failing this the worst parts of the road to be repaired (5) Bank on Muhunoa West road adjoining Mr Davies’ property. After a conference on the ground an arrangement satisfactory to- -all parties concerned was .arrived at. Viz., the bank to be removed in two piaoes where agreed to. -

Tararua road from intersection of Gladstone road to Arapaepae road: 1 have to report that this section oi Tararua road is again in a very bad state, caused through the cartage oi timber by heavy motor lorry from mill at end of Gladstone road, and that unlefeg considerable repairs are carried put at once the road will soon become impassable. A good deal of'.timber is also being carted by heavy motoir lorn over lower Gladstone road and Queen street.

GENERAL. Tokomaru Riding: Gr.. Barber expressed satisfaction at the fact that the road, roller had reached the Tokomaru Riding. ,

He stated that a large amount of water was coming down the Mangore stream at present and asked if tlr County was prepared tp .assist settlers should any damage take place through flooding. b

-The Engineer stated that he had gone into the question with Mir Dinni.e, the Engineer-in-Charge at Mangahao. who assured him that the extra water put into the stream would not be sufficient to cause flooding HOKIO BEACH ROAD. Wirokinp: Cr. Harkn ess asked that something more should be done on the Hokio Reach Road. Some trouble wa's being experienced by settlers in that locality and patching now would probably save much greater trouble. The Engineer stated that his reason for not doing more metalling was because of the soft state of the road. There was a good deal of carting oi wood and flax, and if metal were put on now, jn all probability it would be (Scattered. He considered that it would be better to waiti for some time before doing anything further. DRAINING ON TO I COUNTY ROADS. Cr: Catley said thatia decision should be arrived 1 at in respect of drains from private land diverting water on to County roads. The trouble was that any maintenance of drains dug on a public road became chargeable on the County, and they might find them-

selves having- to look after these dramis later on. The Council should take action even to the extent of fill-ing-in these drains.

WAITARERE ROAD. In reference to TEuT Waitarere road Or. Catley asked if the road could not be gone on with out of revenue. The Government was definitely committed to the loan and this should -be available within six months. If the road was n.Qt made in the summer time it would be more costly to make and less satisfactory alLrouhd. The chairman said’'that Or. Catley’s suggestion might be practicable. it would depend on how the rates came in. Tlie Engineer stated that according to 1 the law they were.not able to go ahead with the road until the. plans were approved by the Government . Cr. Catley: Then for goodness sake get the plans ready for them whenever they ask for mem, We 1 must help these people. They are producing—the very thing the country needs—and we must get them ai road. , The Engineer's report was adopted.