HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Shannon News, 18 June 1929, Page 4

HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

SOUTHERN -DISTRICT MATTERS.

Tfie following business relating to the southern portion of ;fche district was transatced at the monthly /meet.iag df the cHorowhepua - County Council ; on Saturday:— Waikawa South Road -Extension. Mr. F. S. Simcox wrote with reference to .the extension of the road to Mr. I\ ..and his own property from,the Waikawa Beach,Road, asking if something could be-done to ■ the. .crushed metal on theiroad. .Last summer he attempted to drive lambs -along the road, but neither the lambs nor .the (horses would • walk along the road, and, after pulling over thirty lambs'. ,out of tho‘ditches on the roadside, .he had to turn Lack and go ..through his brother's property. Then -he had ten tons of lime to cart from Manakau. ,but the. lorry driver would not tackle the sharp metal, on the road, and hail to come to the writer's paddocks a .round-about way. The road -was not much use in its present condition. Further, ,Mr. Simcox asked if the Council was going to fill in the network of drains through the swamp. He stated that they .were perfect sheep-traps for' nine months of the year. ,Cr. Bryant .reported that he had* lately inspected -themead-and arranged .wi th the . engineer to have it blinded. The ijob .would be.a small one, with the material alongside. , A motion ; was .carried/.confirming ,Cr. ! Bryant's action. The chairman said he did /not (know what Mr. : Simcox -meant -by a “network of drains.'' 1 The Council had no authority to fill-in drains. The fin- 1 gineer might look into the complaint,, however. ’ Manakau Township Requirements. ! The Manakau branch of the Farmers ' Union wrote . with reference to the question of tar-sealing the footpaths, and to-that.of speed regulation through! the township, stating that these matters were diseased at the annual imeet-. ing of the branch. In a letter receiv- 1 ed in April tho branch -was informed that the Council's attention would be given to these subjects of the footpaths; but so far nothing had been done. It -was felt that the matter demanded the Council's earnest consideration, together with the need of extending the bitumen to the footpaths through the township. The chairman stated that .the question of the footpaths came up after •the -estimates weTe framed last year, and it was decided that it would receive consideration when this year's estimates came down. Provision in this respect had been made on the latter estimates, and the work would be done as soon as possible. Cr. Bryant Stated that .he was not present at the -annual meeting of the branch; had he been prsent, the letter would not have come to the Council, because he would have explained the position to the meeting. The engineer stated that the plant had not been available for removal to Manakau.

It was decided to reply that the matter 5 would be attended to in due course.

Forest Lakes Road.

Messrs Harper, Atmore and Thomson, solicitors, writing in regard to the Forest Lakes Hoad, stated that Mr. Simcox advised them that he had now fully complied with the County engin,leer's requisition of April 16th. The Council was asked to arrange for the engineer to make a final inspection of the road, with a view to early dedication. The chairman stated that the engineer had had a letter from Mr. Simcox and had arranged to meet him on the. ground; Mangaone Hoad. A letter was received from Mr. W. Baxter, sawmiller, Waikanae, with respect to the Mangaone Road. He stated that, since his interview with the chairman and the engineer on February 27th, he had inspected all the bridges on the portion of the road to be maintained by him, and found that a new bridge was required immediately opposite Mr. Nielsen's property, and therefore' he would be glad if the Council would arrange to have the present bridge inspected forthwith. On Saturday, May 11th, the traffic was held up at this bridge while his men were carrying out temporary repairs to the bridge. He could not see his way clear to take over the ''maintenance p>f both the road and bridges for the sum of £lO jper annum, but would do so for £6O per annum, payable in advance and should the Council accept the latter offer, he would undertake to re-build the above bridge at once. The chairman stated that he and the engineer had inspected the bridge. He did not think that the Council would have asked Mt. Baxter to maintain the road and bridges for £lO a year if it had known that this bridge was in such a bad state. The bridge had been temporarily repaired and could be used for traffic probably for the next six months, until the engineer got out a plan and estimate for a new bridge. The chairman moved that Mr. Baxter be asked to carry on for £l>' a year and that the Council re-build the bridge; also that a notice be ,put on the old bridge setting out that it is unsafe for heavy traffic. The motion, which was seconded by Cr. Bryant, was carried.

Culvert at Te Horo. Mr. Jno. Fielding, ,Te Horo, wrote asking the Council to put in a new and larger culvert in place of the c.ulvert at present across the gateway leading into the front of a house property in Te Horo. He stated that the present 9in culvert was too small and could not carry the water across the igatew-ay, with -the result that the water overflowed on to the roadway mad iftaused -<* great nuisance to the

.householders below Lis .place, .besides /causing the echildren .to get their feet wet when going jout and in. The trouble arose after heavy rain, and during a wet season was very unpleasant for all.

The chairman moved and Cr. Ryder seconded, that the matter be referred to Cr. Jensen and the engineer for a report. Cr. Jensen stated that he had inspected the locality, in company with Mr. Fielding. The water race came out at a right angle, and was apt to .flood on to the road. The motion was carried. Complaint Regarding Pigs.

A report was received from Inspector Lcrwill, of the Health Department, Wellington, that he had investigated the complaint by Messrs W. H. and V. Weggery, Waikanae, concerning an alleged nuisance on premises occu--pied by Mr. Askew. The .latter declared that he did not kill jigs on his premises and had not done so at any time. The number of pigs which the Inspector noted were two full-grown and ten small pigs. For this number there was ample accommodation. The boiling-aovvn plant consisted of a copper built in the open. At the time of his inspection he did not observe any nuisance or conditions detrimental to health. Nevertheless, he recommended Mr. Askew to remove pig pens so as to comply with the Horowhenua .County bjy-laws And ;to remove the -boiling-down plant to a site less likely to give offence to any person on the adjoining property. Te Horo Flood-water Agreement.

'Mr. B. L. Ellis wrote in regard to his water supply from the Mangaone stream, on which subject he had previously been in communication with the Council, between whom and himself an agreement has been in existence in connection with the supply. He stated that, on May 23rd, the County engineer called. to inspect the supply, and, as it had been patched up with tins and soil, stated that ho could only represent that the writer had water, and advised him to notify the Council when the supply stopped. A few days afterwards the water was gone, and on the date of the letter (June sth) the pipe was two inches above the water. Six times during the last summer the writer had been without -water for considerable periods, and still nothing was done to remedy the matter. He had .pointed out when the agreement was made, that he hoped it would be carried out without endless trouble. The chairman said he believed that the matter was covered in the engineer's report to the Works Committee; a different situation had arisen since his visit. The Council was very desirous that a .continuous flow of water should be given, and the necessary steps would be taken to obtain that water through the medium of-the Railway Department, which was responsible for keeping the water an the pipe. That was all that the Council could do in the .meantime, he thought. The chairman added that he inspected the supply two or three weeks ago and found that the intake was very crude. He thought that the Department could, under its agreement with the Council, improve the intake somewhat, It appeared -from the scouring of the creek and the alteration of the course, that they would have periodic times in dry weather for which some different arrangement would have to be made than that now existing.

Cr. Jensen said it must be borne in mind that a considerable time had elapsed' since the trouble commenced. He had more than once called the attention of the Council to the Railway Department's trying to obstruct the stream. He did not think that the Department should have any more right to block a stream than a local body or a private individual had. It was only about & year since the .Council tried to make room for the water and to prevent the main road from being flooded. It seemed to him that, if there was a fall, it was quite easy for the Department to put a pipe down where it would take the water through without blocking up the stream. He did not think that the present pipe had ever acted satisfactorily.

The chairman stated that a 6in instead of a 2in pipe was put in by the Department, but the pipe was a foot above the water, except in flood-time. Section Frontage Wanted.

Mr. J. H. Briggs, County surfaceman, Te Horo, wrote stating he was build ing a house on a section at Mangaone, and there was not much frontage, on account of the Mangaone Creek. He asked if the Council would allow him to shift the fence out, as the road was .very wide in front of the place where he wanted to build.

The application was referred to the engineer, with power to act. Transfer of Lease Applied For. Mr. J. Aitken, of the railway staff, Manakau, wrote applying for permission to take over the lease of the portion of road, .known as Oldfield's Road, held by Mr. M. Burke, at the south eid of Manakau township. Mr. Burke wrote in support of the request and stating that he would be leaving the place by the end of the year. On the motion of the chairman, it was resolved that the application be taken into consideration when Mr. Burke's lease terminates.