HIGHWAYS DIFFICULTY.

Shannon News, 11 September 1928, Page 3

HIGHWAYS DIFFICULTY.

COUNCIL ASKS FOR £3 SUBSIDY, BOARD OFFERS £2.

FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS TO BE MADE. A deadlock continues between the Horowhenua County Council and the Main Highways Board with regard to the completion of the highways scheme in the county, a work which it is impossible to carry out for the money authorised by the loan. At the Council meeting on Saturday a reply was received from the Board to an offer made by the Council last month and hitherto not made public. This was that if the Board would allow a subsidy of £3 for £1 on certain works remaining to be done and which the Council has suspended, such works would be resumed. The reply from the Board was an offer of £2 for £1 for these works and a suggestion that the Council should raise the additional 10 per cent, allowed by statute on its loan. The. estimated cost of the works above referred to is £83,907. With regard to new work in the northern part of the county, estimated to cost £56,129, the Council had asked the Board to pay the whole cost by means of grants spread over five years, and the reply was that |;his might be brought up for consideration at some future date.

After a discussion of the correspondence, the Council resolved not to accept the Board’s offer, with the exceptioin that the chairman (Mr G. A. Monk) aud Cr. Qptley interview the District Engineer to ascertain whether the Department or the Board would be prepared to give a subsidy of £2 for £1 on the completion of the construction of the section Shannon to Makerua railway, station and the section Tokomaru . River to north boundary; and that, in the event of no favourable . reply being received in a fortnight, all construction work shall cease immediately. A full report be published in our next issue .