BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 300, 15 December 1908, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The New Plymouth llorougn Council iield its ordinary meeting last n »,u. Present: ilis \\ urslup Hie Mayor U. Tisch), aud Crs. liuon, Coleman, West, lollis, juuls, Muiey, Browne and 11. R. Caltley. HALF-HOLIDAI.

i A L-lur was lean from tiie Mayor oi j Suailor.i asking lik- Codicil to a delegate to a conference in sa-.tuuiu lo coijs.iler tiiij question oi lixmg a uuiiorm lialf-lioliu.iy for Tanrnaki. llle .Mayor thought it wumu oe a-J- ---• v.sau.e lo atlupl some such move. | Cr. Collis agreed, and moved Unit tiie I Ma.wir Oe lac council s delegate. '! | Cr. Bellringei- seconded, aud the motion was carried, j A motion was carried afiiriuing tiie I suitability ox Thursday as i\cw PlyI mouth's half-holiday. BL'ILDINU BY-LAWS. •Mr. Urnpen waited oil thu Council to complain of the inconvenience and expense caused to liim by the manner in whieii the Council had* prosecuted him for a breach of the by-laws in erecting a verandah over tile footpath witlioui having obtained the necessary permit.

He expressed the opinion lluit his premises were up-to-date, whilst there wci"> other places which the inspector ami tiie Council permitted to exist which were a disgrace to tile town. 11l one place tiny had been cleaning fish right beside tile public street, and the Council had winked at it. if there were by-laws to be enforced, tliey sllould be enforced against all alike. | Councillors were of opinion that the builder should be prosecuted in cases of [ this kind, for evidently Mr. Grupen had bum misled. U was pointed out that either the builder or owner could be prosecuted. 'Hie engineer pointed out that the only tiling lie could do was to order the demolition of the' varandah. It was impossible, to make the thing in accordance with the by-laws. I'll 10 ESPLANADE.

Upon the motion of Cr. Browne, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to tile Mayor for bis valuable work in extending the Esplanade to completion ENGINEER'S KI-T'UIM'.

Jllr. A. H. Kendall, borough engineer reported as under:—- ' Waterworks—The water has been laid on to ill- Buttimore's property in Hobson street at a eost of £l2. Beach gravel.—The contractor has now made some progress with the haulage of beach gravel. Gaol metal.—Upon enquiry I found that all available broken metal at the gaol was sold to ail adjoining local authority some weeks ago. There is, however, a quantity of gaol metal available, which I am procuring as needed from time to time. I

Henui bridge.—The Railway Department have now constructed necessary protectfcm on the bridges to prevent children falling through the sides, and I beg to point out that a similar danger exists r;i the Henui river bridge m Devon stieet, and to make this safe will cost about £2 15s

Vivian street: Morley street to Cutfield road.—The contractor has now almost completed this contract, and the bank on the north side of the cutting which gave promise of standing very' well, ,began to set badly, and threatened to do serious damage, so I had the top broken away and thrown in the cutting, below, as the matter was very urgent. It is extremely desirable that Mr. Weston should have access renewed to his front gate, and with thia'otiject in view 1 beg respectfully to ask your Council's authority to do this as convenience and other work will allow. Building by-laws.—Action has been taken against the owner of the verandah which has been erected in Brougham street, with the result Unit (ho verandah has been demolished and a fine inflicted for the breach of the bylaws. Newton King's building: In accordance with instructions nf your j Works Committee, I have made ' ell- 1 ipiirics re this breach of the by-laws and have reason to believe that the proprietor has been led away by his builder who, I believe, informed him or bis agents that a permit would not be necessary, although the building is about 40ft by 30ft, and has been erected in the brick area for a salt store. The Mayor said there was no doubt that a breach of the by-Jaws hud been committed, and if the Council were :><>• Ing to proced against the little fisherman they must go for all alike. A question was asked whether the Council "go for" the builder in this case.

Cr. West: No, go fur the owner, the same as in the other case, t'r. Collis: The authority of the Council was to proceed adjust the builder in that case.

Cr. West considered the Council was in a fair way to become a laughingstock if it were going to prosecute one owner because he was a fisherman, and against the builder next lime.

Cr. liellringer said that the Council had established a precedent and would have to treat nil cases in the »ame fashion as Grupen. He supposed lie would insist on the building being removed, as in the former ease!

t'V. .Mills said that the matter of whom to sue was for the solicitor, and. not for the Council, to decide. Cr. Cattley: Can't we proceed against the two* The Mayor: That can be left in the. solicitor's hands.

A resolution was passed authorising tin; solicitor to proceed against tile owner or builder for this breach of the bv-laxvs. ABATTOIRS. The Abattoir Committee recommended the acceptance of Mr. T. Mack as head slaughterman. and that the committee enquire into the general management of the abattoir with a view of curtailing expenses. A further report recommended: That in consideration of Mack receiving s(nr' from the -butchers and meat for the chilling room lie be granted a free house and iin increase of 10s per week during the months of October to 'March (inclusive) and 5s from April to September (inclusive): that consideration of the letter from the branch secretary of the Slaughtermen's Union be deferred. The Mayor said that in recommending tiie re-appointment the Council was guided by the unanimous wisli of t'le bulchers.

West it "a bit of a farce" to add to the salary of the head slaughterman when tin? work had been so materially' reduced by the loss of the Ijoned meat trade.

The Mayor said that the w'mle question would be threshed out after the holidays. The report was adopted. MISCELLANEOUS. Mr. T. Lock, owner of a mervy-go-rouiiil, wrote in reference to the fee of :C."> charged for tile license to open in the borough. He did not possess ;i goldmine, and he asked the Council tome 1 '; him half-way.—The .Mayor slated that the Council never issued licenses for these riding galleries or shooting galleries, thus avoiding liability for compensation in case of accident. Thisjial caused a considerable loss of revenue. No alteration in the fee could be ma le.

Some discussion ensued upon "the mo- | lion uf Cr. JJellringer, iliat in future all employers should be paid for 'holiday?} authorised by resolution, unless otherwise .specified, this resolution to apply I to the recent agricultural show day. —I (Vs. Mills, Hrowne and Collis opposed paving the casual hands, urging that Wtch case as it came up should be dealt with on its liH-rits, and it was decided | in p;i v all the employees for time lost 1 on p»lliii«;-day and show day. Cr. Ucllrinfrer referred to the acquisition of ljeserve Y by the (Government, and moved that the Council lake sle;n !o ac<juire control, so ihnl (lie ''lovers' •walk" could be extended it—a very pretty piece of vhipvv.