HOROWHENUA COUNTY.

Shannon News, 10 May 1929, Page 4

HOROWHENUA COUNTY.

LAST MEETING- OF PRESENT COUNCIL.

\ GENERAL REQUIREMENTS RE

CEIVING ATTENTION,

The final meeting of the Horowhen,ua County Council prior to the triennial election took place in the County ,Chambers 011 Saturday, there being present: The County Chairman Cr. G. A. Monk), Crs Barber, Whyte, Ryder, Bryant, Kilsby, Gimblett, Catley and Jensen, Mr F. H. Hudson (County Clerk), and Mr J. T. M. Brewster (County Engineer).

MAKERUA ROADING SCHEME.

Advice was received from the Local Government Loans Board that the application for sanction to raise, a Joan of £B2OO for metalling the MakeruaRangitanc, Seifert, Ashlea and Campbell Roads was .submitted to a meeting of the Board on April 17th, when it , declined to sanction the application, jOn the grounds that the roads 'were

.being metalled primarily for subdiv'isional purposes and the cost of the .work should be borne by the subdividing owners. Cr. Gimblett asked if it 'hal not •been the practice m the past for people ,to raise money by way of a charge on the land. ■

The Chairman replied that local bodies had done that for them, before the Loans Board came into existence. , Cr. Gimblett. remarked that evidentfly the principle was being laid down that roads must be metalled in the cases of subdivision, similarly to what ,was required -when subdivisions were made in boroughs.

) On the motion of the Chairman, the letter was received. •

GRADER WORK,

•Mr. T. Christinsen, Makerua, wrote stating that he. understood the ' Council wanted someone to use the horse grader in the Tokomaru riding. He harl good horses and could do the work. The matter was refened' to the Engineer.

CLEANING OF KOPUTAROA STREAM.

The Buckley Drainage Board requested assistance towards cleaning and improving the Koputaroa Stream on the Tavistock Road, a -distance of 1 some twenty chains. The Board’s J c-lerk was informed that nothing had been dene to .this stream since the former loan was raised. If the' request were acceded to, it would bring about an improvement to the roy/1 and '•district.

The Chairman said he understood that the place affected .was where the Koputaroa Stream flowed close alongside the Tavistock Road. To some oxdent, he presumed, it was necessary to :keep the stream cleaned out. Cr. Kilsby stated that he was approached between six and eight months ago by Mr Egginton, who asked him if. the Council would do anything. lie replieclvi t.'iat he did not see that th • Council eduJd do anything then; bur since that time ti e Buc-kley DrainageBoard had raised a certain amount of money; and hoped to clean l the stream ■ out to a point. be-yond where the cut was put through by the Council many years ago. That cut was made to straighten the stieam and particularly to improve the road. Prior to that, when the bush was in that. locality, the road was practically impassable He did not think that the Council had spent anything on that, particular portion since. He had told Mr Egginton and other settlers interested, that he .was prepared to give them his support jin a request to the Council, but that ‘he could not do so until he knew the amount of money required to be spent. 'The stream drained the whole area from Mr Law’s, cn lhakara Hill, to Gladstone Road. It was rather a ,nav 'row cut, and when .there were' heavy floods the roads were submerged. There was a small bridge there, which on various occasions had caused a good deal of trouble through becoming dislodged. . Cr. Gimblett stated that he had also be 4 en spoken to by Mr Egginton in regard to the matter. The Board had drained all that particular area and relieved the County of a good deal of work. There were orher parts of the County where, if the. same attitude had been adopted, the Council would not have had certain troubles that they were experiencing now. It was their duly to help settlers to act together in a' way that would relieve the County. Of late years the Council had spent nothing on that drain. The Hoard wore to a large extent helping to keep ,the Council’s road dry, and it was the duty of the Council to help them. He thought that the twenty chains involved would cost about £2 a chain for cleaning; and if the Board carried out that work, ,it would" help the .Council a good deal. The land was very low-lying, and if the Board had not grappled with the question, the ■County would have had to spend no end of money there. Cr, Kilsby” said that,, about, fifteen years ago, the settlers in the locality raised about £IOO9 for the deepening .of the Koputaroa Stream, but he did not think any of that money had been spent on this particular portion. Cr. Gimblett They are not asking for any particular amount, but they 'want to avail themselves of any little fine weather that n left, and want to know how far their finances would • take them.

< The Chairman: It is a riding matter. 'Probably a pound spent in the next week, or two would be better than .three or four pounds if we wait for 'the estimates. They only ask fjr assistance.

Cr. Kilsby: I have seen that piece ■of country in time of flood, and it is just a huge lake. i' Cr. Gimblett If they can get assistance in this respect, they will contilime cleaning higher up. y On the motion of Cr. Gimblett, seconded by Cr. Kilsby, it was res lived .that the Baord be subsidised to the

extent of half the cost of cleaning the ,Stream, on the Tavistock Bond, with a maximum expenditure of £2O. REQUEST FOR A CULVERT.

, Mr P. A. Page, Kuku, wrote asking if the Council would supply him with a water-table culvert suitable for vehicular traffic approaching his residence. He would put the culvert in, subject to the 'approval of the Engineer, if his , request wore granted. The application was referred to the Engineer, with power to act.

SUGGESTED DIVERSION OF WATER,

Mr T, L. Walker, McDonald Road, Ihakara, wrote asking if the Council would put pipes across that road to carry the waste watei from the waterrace that was now flowing down the side of the road into .the Koputaroa Stream. When half-way down, a great portion soaked under the road into his jpadock, creating a swamp and a bed for pennyroyal. If this water were carried across the road, it would benefit him, as ir, would give him water in (his top paddocks, where he had none and therefore could not use his farm to. the best advantage. There was a 'good fall, and he would carry the ’water on and empty it into the stream lower down. This was the first time lie had asked the Council to do .anything for him although he had been, a ratepayer for 27 years, j Cr. Gimblett stated that the request' was quite a reasonable one if Mr iWalker ivas prepared to come inti the water-race rating area. The speaker had to pay for water on his own farm. The whole system of the Levin waterrace district wanted looking into. There were people digging into the races in all sorts of places; also, it .was at present difficult to know whichwas a County race and which was a private one. He hoped that when the stjiff had time they would have a map of the water-race district prepared. Whatever happened, the ivater races must not be lost; they must be guard-, ed strictly, and this the Council had not clone in the past. As long as the water had flowed and the cows had got a drink, that was all that the Council had troubled about; but the system would have to be put on a better business footing. He moved that the application be granted, provided that Mr Walker to allow his property benefiting to become a portion of the water-race rating area. ’

■Cr. Kilsby seconded the motion

The Engineer stated that the water for which 1 " Mr Walker was asking was excess water. , Six months ago the Council granted permission to another settler, Mr Butt, to take this water; he had not touched it and apparently dicl not want it, but, if the Council were going to grant the right to Mr Walker, they would have to rw.incl the resolution relating to Mr Butt.

Cr. Gimblelt remarked that the Council could only take the water ro the applicant’s boundary, and could not [take it there until he had a race ready 'to receive it, ■ The motion was carried. WIDE CULVERT. /

..With regard to his application foi a culvert at his property in Lindsay ,Road, Mr A. J. Mark wrote stating .that the Engineer recently interview ed him and was of the opinion that, owing to the nature of the entrance, , a 36ft. instead of a 12ft. culvert (as generally allowed by the Council) would be required. The Chairman said he understood 'from the Engineer that nothing less than a 36ft culvert would do, owing to the narrowness of the road.

The Engineer stated that the only actual turning-place into the gate, for a vehicle, was right on top of tlu culvert.

It was decided, on the motion of Cr. Kilsby, ..seconded by Cr. Catley, that the Council pay for half of a 36ft. culvert.

ROAD ACCESS AT TOKOMAR'J. »A letter wa3 received from Messrs Hankins, Fitzherbert and Abraham, solicitors, with reference to the road used by Mr George Craw, for access to his property at Tokomaru. They stated that Mr Craw was endeavouring to sell 'the block, and they had been assured by more than one land agent that.the fact that the road was practically unusable was very dorGmental to a- sale. The Chairman stated that, the matter was before the Council a,considerable time ago. Cr. 'Ryder, the Engineer and himself fully'discussed the mad ter on the g-ound. The position was, that previous to the operation of the Makerua Drainage Board, Mr Craw had a road on which he could take a dray to certain property of his. The Chairman did not think that the Board had had authority to take spoil out of a cut and put on this road line, but they did so and evidently had an agreement that, if they covered the track on the road line, they would give Mr Craw a road on top of the bank. The 'difficulty now was that very few of the' Councillors knew what the stale ['of the road was prior t.o the banking, and they could only view the position as it. was to-day. They were informed by the Board that a very much better road existed now than before. It appeared that difficulties had arisen between Mr Craw and the Board, which .were submitted to arbitration, and the (Council were led to believe that lhat. arbitration embraced the road over which the dispute existed now. They had <a copy of the agreement regarding the arbitration, and it did not refer to the particular road of which Mr Craw complained. As far as the Council could see, no formed or metalled road on which the Council had spent any money existed prior to the bank; but there had been a road-line where Mr Craw could get through among the stumps at certain times of the year. Since the bank was constructed, ,however, he was confined to the top of the bank. In wet weather this surface became very greasy, and there was a risk of his teams going over 'into the cut, As far as the speaker ‘could see, Mr Craw wanted a fairly de■cent road to his land, which he pro-

posed to subdivide, and he hacl asked c the Council to make this road. Presumably the Board’s operations had been carried out without the permission of the Council and without their knowledge. The Board’s contention that the country was better drained must be given some credence. Perhaps the top of the bank wanted a (little more flattening out, and it wanted a coat of. metal. It had not been ;the' practice of this Council to form ,and metal new roads out- of revenue, lie, suggested, that Mr Craw be asked iif he was prepared to contribute, either by forming a special urea <n- by glireet monetary contribution, seeing that the proposal was going to benefit his property. Cr. Ryder said he understood that (Mr Craw had a tramway before the jbig drain was put in, and it was on swampy land, there being no road. The speaker considered that the applicant (had a far better road to-day than he .had previously. He supposed than the .Drainage Board were wrong in what ( they had done, but he was sure that, \if they had asked for permission, it would have been granted, because of ;the better road they provided! The bank wanted levelling, however, and (would never be a proper road until (it,was metalled. ’ It was decided to reply stating, that ’ ( the Council wculd consider the question of improvement when they knew (what Mr Craw was prepared to do by (way of contribution.

HEIGHTS ROAD. (. Reporting on Heights Road, condeeming which the Engineer and himI self were authorised to make an inspection, with power to act., Cr. Cat',ley stated that, lie accompanied the (County Foreman to the locality on (April 29th. With regard to the drain; |it had fallen in very considerably and had been cleared several times, which ,had only .aggravated the trouble. As ; the road was not a danger at present, (lie had informed Mr Robbie that nothing would be done. . With >regard to (the application for culverts, Cr. Cat,ley recommended that two new ones ,be put in. These should meet the requirements for some time), as the I road was in fair order. Cr. Hatley, recommended Ihc new Council should inquire intb the question of a diversion ,of the roakl. The Chairman: You would have do ■ take land. Y Cr. Catley: No: we' could exchange (the present , line of road for the new one. The report by Cr. Catley was adopted. ; WALLACE ROAD. With regard to the request by >a deputation of settlers oii Wallace Road, .at the previous meeting, asking for the improvement 'of a dangerous corner on that road, the eommitte; that avas appointed to investigate the matter recommended that the Engineer be instructed to cut the road'back to a distance, of four feet over a length of ,66ft., at. a cost of from £6 to £8; *and (that the growth at each end of the ■culvert be cut off and gravel spread if necessary. • The report was adopted.

UNMET ALLED ROADS. . ( Cr. Gimblett said he would like- to ,refer again to the question 'of un''metalled roads, with particular ref eric nc e lo Lindsay Road extension. Cr (Catley and his colleague had agreed .that it would be better for the.matter to be held over until after the new Council took office. The speaker quite agreed with that, but he could (not help realising that this was one of ' the most important 'questions thar any (Council would have to face in th j Wirokino riding. It was a very difficult- matter indeed, and he menticned .it to show that it had not been forgotten. ,