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A BOUNDARY BRIDGE.

EXPENSES AND ETIQUETTE. As. a result of the discussion at •Monday's meeting oi the 'laranaki County Council, die following letter troin Air. Mils, County Clerk, came beiorc the Clifton Couuty' Couac-il yesterday :-- "l am directed to transmit to you the lollowing resolution passed at our council meeting on tile 2nd, mat.:— ■mat in the opinion of this Council ilie Cliliuu County Council were not justified in authorising so large an un-iL-rlaKiiig as that oi redecKing the iVuitara bridge at Tarata, without lirst consulting this Council ami that before any further steps are taken in the matter, tnis Council be represented by an engineer." "Further, 1 am directed to ask if you: Council would appoint a commission to meet and confer with a committee of tliis Council, relative to your Council contributing an annual sum towards maintaining the Junction road. In connection" therewith I am instructed to point out that the ratepayers ol this couaty are maintaining a road which carries practically the whole of the traffic of the Ngatimaru riding ot your county." A QUESTION OF COURTESY.

Dealing with the lirst request in regard to the bridge, the chairman said the councillors would doubtless remember that the engineer had reported that lie docking was in a bad state, and ■luired renewing. The Council authori hint to have the work done, lie . ... r-lood then that the engineer estimated the cost at jtou or £OO.

■Mr. Dowsctt explained that the £BO or £!)0 referred to the cost of the timber, to which had to be added the cost of removing the old decking and laying down the new, as well as the expense of carting the timber to the site.

The chairman, continuing, said that this was about the lirst heavy expense to which the Council had been put in connection with one of these partnership bridges. The bridge in question is a boundary bridge, vested in the Clifton Council which had to maintain it i:i good order and charge half the cost thereof to the Tarauaki County Council. It probably would have been niori courteous to the latter body had they been advised that repairs running into a considerable sum of money were required. But it had not occurred to him at the time, or he would have suggested sending a , ..er. He nad spoken to Air. Brown, uiu laranaki .county chairman, who had called his attention to the omission, and this he (Mr. Foreman) mentioned at last meeting of the Council. Upon that Mr. Dowsett sent a letter stating his proposals in regard to the bridge. (The letter, setting out the work and the estimated cost at £440 or £l5O, was read). Air. Foreman pointed out that the Clifton Council had the sole control of the bridge, just as much as of the bridges wholly wilhiu its boundaries. The question was, "]!f they wore going 'to be courteous to the Tiirniiaki County Council— and he had no desire to be otherwise—hnow far was that courtesv to extend!" Was it to extend-So lar that whenever any repairs were required, to cost, say £SO or so, the Clifton County engineer must consult the Tarauaki county engineer as to what was to be done, and the latter'* consent obtained before the work could be proceeded with ?»

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'onne'llor Hunter: It wouldn't inter■ei--' i:-'i.ii with us. Wc should take nur I--" cigincer's report in anv cns\ ■'"•el-:.; tint we have contv I of the iindg ! think they wo- a«rce to our engineer's report v.: limit any tronbl,. whatever. The engine,.,- I'M,-. Dowsed) :f am doubtful whether tliov would, judgi,,., ov the conditio,, of their own l,rid«es. Couneillor Hunter: Well, it's plain they couldn't alter our plans, even if they were not. If it came to the question of the rc-orection of the bridge, tbn the two engineers would have "to consul, togther. Mr. Dowaett explained that Hits bridg .' Ir.nl been erected about twenty years ago, by Messrs Clare and Bundle.' and the various repairs had been effecte I without notice to the Taranaki Coun■■il. Thus, it had never occurred to him to nol if v them on this occasion, but no -light hint been intended. It was simply an oversight. Had he given the matter c Moderation, etiquette" would hay prompted him to send the notification. As for the bridge, itself, there was Jio doubt of the work being required. The decking had been down; or some of it had, for twenty years, and it didn't need o„c engineer, let alone two, to sc e that it wanted renewing. The undcrstriictui'c Mould be sure to necu some repair, ma to what extent could not,be known until the decking was stripped. But it- was reasonable to make all the' repairs at the one time. Some of the decking was good enough to be used'on sonic of tin. by-road bridges. Councillor Sullivan: And jou will allow the Taranaki Council somctliin" lotthat?. • ■:°

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The chairman said lie had had a chat with Mr. Brown on this matter, and had told him frankly that he would oppose the proposition to hold a conference. He considered it was going to be very hard on the back country settlers if, ' after providing their own roads and rais- ' ing money to mak e their outlet to Ingle- • wood, they were to be compelled to con- ' tribute an annual sum for the main- ' tenance of that outlet. The Tarata people some years ago raised n loan of £I,OOO, and this money was spent on the Junction road between lvaimata and Waitara river. Upon that loan they were now paying over £4O in rates, which seemed to him a verv fair contribution. Some of the Clifton countv ratepayers at Tarata were paying up to 3d in the £. on the capital value to provide interest on special loans, anl of those loans this £IOOO had been expended on the Junction road on the Tarauaki County Council side. In addi Hon there was the general rate of l'/„d, making 4'/ 2 d in the £, exclusive "of Government'taxation. If to that hurden tlicy were going to be forced to make a contribution to a neighbouring body, he was strongly opposed to the proposal. Th e Tarauaki Council's re quest was quite in order, for the Publi; Works Act made provision that where the people of one county were using a road through another county, they could be called upon to contribute to wards the upkeep of the road. Whether or not the law could be strained to make these; ratepayers contribute to the Junction road remained to be seen. At any rate, he was opposed to it. .'f the Tarauaki County Council thought it worth while to push the matter further they could lodge their claim. Councillor Kenningtoii pointed nut that the Tarauaki County Council had received several grants of £3OO for the maintenance of this part of the road, and that ought to be reckoned as a contribution. This. Council got no Government contribution. The chairman said lie was not aware on what grounds those Government ; moneys were obtained. Perhaps it was , on the ground that this was pracliciHv [ an arterial road. Councillor Sander considered the (r. f- . fie from the Ngatimaru riding was not , sufficient to warrant a contribution. Th > , ratepayers' traffic did very little harm, ; and they couldn't count the two carriers. The Tarauaki county ratepayers were I breaking up the road themselves. ', Mr. Dowsett (engineer) gave his , opinion that the Council could not en- . tertaiii the proposal to make a con- , triliution.

The Council decided, on the motion of Councillors Sullivan and Sander, that the Tara-naki Or. uty Council be informed that this Council cannot recognise any responsibility to contribute towards the maintenance of that portion of the Junction road in the Taranaki county between the Waitara river and Inglewood.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19090807.2.68

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 166, 7 August 1909, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,363

A BOUNDARY BRIDGE. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 166, 7 August 1909, Page 6

A BOUNDARY BRIDGE. Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 166, 7 August 1909, Page 6

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