Landsdowne Estate Roads.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43085, 27 April 1907, Page 3

Landsdowne Estate Roads.

CONFUSION CLEARED AT LAST. At the last meeting of the Piakc County Council, an understanding was arrived at with regard to the reads on the Landsdowne Estate. This estate was under the jurisdiction of the Waitoa

Road Board during its existence, and belonged to the New Zealand Land Association. When the Association sold some of the land to Mr Alex. Bell, it was discovered that two road lines affecting his property, had been gazetted where only one was required, and with a view to having this matter rectified, the Board was approached about the middle of last year. The Board’s Chairman then went over the ground with Mr Laird, and found that the road appeared to have

been laid off without much regard to further developments. After the merging of the Road Board into the County, the matter was placed in Mr Swarbrick's hands by the Land Association, and after going exhaustively into the matter, he reported that most of the roads on this estate were in a terrible state of con-

fusion. Some of the roads in, use had never been actuaUy legally taken up, and in other cases the taking up had never been actually completed. In other cases stopping had never been legaUy completed, and others in use were roads

which had been legally stopped, and j should therefore be legally constituted j once more. The Association therefore ' wished to have these all set in order, so

that there might be no legally dedicated . though unused roads on their land, or j 'hat which Lad been sold by them, in order for the title to be valid. ! The Council formed a committee,

headed by the Chairman, to view the r iads in question with Mr Swarbrick and the foreman, and after traversing the whole of the roads agreed to Mr iSwarb ick’s suggestion, with one exception, 1 o continue using the present roads, dedicating any undedieated portions, and westing in the Land Association, any dedicated roads on their land. The ex-

■ption recommended was in the case of

•< road over a hill, which the Committee •s iggested should be cut down two feet >ui the bill, and a hollow below filled up with the material.

The Chairman proposed to Mr Sare, Ihe representative of the Land Association, that if Council carried out the hove suggestions, that the Association riiould pay to the Council the sum of J.'loO for the land at present dedicated as ■ nusea roads which would become theirs. It would cost the Council more than that sum to cut down the hill in question. Mr Rare pointed out that whilst recognising that the Council was not re* sponsible for the present position, the ’.ssociation had had deeds in their pos- ■ ession for < - r me time, which made abso--1 tely no mention of the dedicated roads ! n their lan 1. It seemed unfair that the '.ssociation sh uIJ be asked to pay £l5O for the fifteen acres, which the portions of road on their lai d amounted to, for they had recently sold some of the land fit a less price than that would work out nt.

The Ch .iinun further explained to Mr Sare the expense which the Council would be put to in altering the grade of the hill road, arid tne latter, on behalf of ihe Association, finally agreed to pay £l5O for the land forming portions of road on the Association’s land, and to pay all costs of closing and dedicating. The vote of thanks passed to the Chairimn, Mr Gavin, appears to have been well deserved, for the satisfactory issue which ho brought about in this matter.