COUNTY COUNCIL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 72, 21 March 1912, Page 5

COUNTY COUNCIL.

4 MONTHLY MEETING. The ordinary monthly meeting of Ihe Stratford County Council ( was ■held yesterday. There were present; The Chairman (Mr. Hathaway), Crs. J. Smith, J. Thomson, J. Christoff el, E. Marfell, E. Walter, W. lingers, C. Anderson, and J. Young. Kiorc Telephone Office. Mr D. Robertson, secretary of the General Post Office, forwarded a statement of revenue and expenditure at the Kiore telephone office for the year ended 31st October, 1911. As they would observe, there was a surplus on the working of the office ot £l5B. As the office was self-support-ing, the account had been closed, and the bond cancelled. Wandering Cattla. Mr. Alex' Boyd complained of the nuisance of straying stock on tne Toko Road. There was a farmei who for the past three years off and on had had his cattle running on the roads. Twenty-one had been giazed there lately. They were a nuisance to the people driving cattle to the Toko sale. He asked whether the Council had a ranger or not.—Referred to the ranger. Mount Humphries Road. A letter from the same source was received re Mt. Humphries oa . “The resident engineer at Strattoid, it stated, “reports that your Council declines to proceed with any fmthei work on the above described road, and that there is an unexpended balance of authority issued to you of £4O Hs 3d. Under these circumstances it has been decided to cancel this balance in order that it may be transferred to the resident engineer for expenditure.” Esk Road. “Mr W. A. H. Hewitt wrote re Esk Road He understood that this road was now in credit about £2O, and as a portion of it was unmetailed, uould be glad if the Council could see its way to spend the money now in credit thereon. If necessary he would be prepared to. find the balance to compete it, and the Council could refund the money to him as available. 1 ! He considered the work could be done cheaply, as there was metal easily available. , ~ It was decided to carry out the required work, provided the settlers interested paid £1 for £l. York Road.

Correspondence was received from the assistant Under-Secretary of the Public Works Department, stating that the Council’s ' t f er .; l ' e n JRoad, had been referred to the Minister of Public Works for consideration. He had to state that a further report from their representatives had now been received from the resident engineer, and considered by the Minister, who would be . prepared to favour ably consider 'an . application for a grant of £SO for •.the road .when compiling next yejats Public Woiks Estimates. There 1 vhas no' vote available for the work at| present, so that the Minister was ' unable to make an immediate grant. Waipuku Railway. Mr. Smith, representing some fifteen settlers living aroumk the Upper York Road and Surrey; Road, applied for the support of the Council •in a petition they were presenting to the Railway Department through Mr. Hine, M.P. They wanted a concession to have their heavy goods carried up by the Egmont railway as far as the crushing site. To carry these goods by road they had a steep hill, with a rise of 900 feet to overcome. It was not necessary?th have a special siding, so there would be no extra cost. They were quite willing to pay the freights, etc. Once the goods were delivered at the crushing site, they would only have, to cart them some distance down hill, i j It was decided to support, the _ settlers, the Councillors being entirely in sympathy with them in their endeavour to get their manure and other heavy goods quickly and easily to their farms. General. The settlers on the Toko Road agreed to subsidise £1 for £1 up to £l2O for metalling on the road. Mr. G. J. Shepperd, representing Booth, McDonald and Co., Ltd., waited on the Council with the view of their purchasing an Austin, grader to cost £IOO. ' With regard to the purchase of a grader it was decided to hold the matter over for the engineer to obtain particulars of another machine. Mr. Geo. F. Scott offered the Council a supply of boulders in a river at the back of his section. He would deliver on the Beaconsfield Road:—Referred to the engineer. It was decided to forward, a letter to Sir Joseph Ward, thanking him for his invitation to be present at the laying of the foundation stone of the new Parliament buildings. Councillor Smith moved according to notice of motion “that the West Brookes and Brecon Roads accounts he joined in one account in the Council’s books, to he called the “Brecon Road Account.”—Carried. Mrs. Clara Hodgkinson wrote that shq had. been informed that a loan was proposed to he raised on the Mangaehu Road, and protested against any more loans. “We have rated ouselves already quite enough. misinformed.