The Daily News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. THE WAITARA BRIDGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 186, 10 September 1909, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. THE WAITARA BRIDGE.

One of the greatest problems the local a , bodies in Xorth Taraiiaki have to deal w with is that of bridges and the que*- j 1( tion, of re-building. of maintenance, and f f of adjustment of liabilities is a never ()] ending, source ot worry. The Waitara ( j, bridge problem peculiar fea-; turea, and is not easy of adjustment., As the posiUon now stands the Waitara .' Harbor Board is responsible lor the maintenance oi the bridge, which is '» a condition of senile decay, and must be re built at the earliest possible moment. The Board possesses endowments in the town of Wailara, the .revenue from which is statutorily car-marked for th> upkeep of the bridge, and the improvement of the haTbor. Towards the re- 8 , construction of the bridge, which is es- f, thnated to cost £OOOO, the Government has offered a grant of £3OOO, leaving b £OOOO to be found by the Board. This is a burden the Board finds itself unable, j to shoulder, if it is to also fulfil its j natural function of improving the navigation of the rver. The. Board there- v fore asks that the local bodies whose traffic avails itself of the bridge should , contribute towards the cost. The request, it seems to us, is perfectly reasonable. How best to solve the question of proportional contribution is one that , will probably tax the resources of the | sponsors of the proposal. It seems to . us that the best solution offering is that ( the Waitara Borough Council, who6c < main thoroughfare crosses the bridge, should assume control of the structure, and a commission be set up to assess the proportion of endowments that should be set aside by the Board pentaan«7itiy for the purposes of the bridge. We should scarcely think the Council would seriously object to this course be* ing adopted, as in the event of the bridge being closed, they and not tnc Harbor Board, would Ibe the pi'iime iosere. Were the control of the bridge in the hands of the Council, the question ot fixing ttie contributions of adjacent iocal bodies towards the interest charges would present no diiliculties. Everyone should be anxious to expedite as much as the restoration of the bridge, and it is to be hoped no unreasonable obstacles will be placed in th° I way ofj'iiv fair proposition put forward. At the same time it would be quite unreasonable to ask that the Taranaki County Council should contribute any considerable amount, particularly in view of the fact that the Waitara ratepayers have not been called upon to contribute to any extent of their moral liability towards bridges between New Plymouth and Waitara. bridges thai' carry far more Waitara and Cilfton trafiic than does the Waitara bridge ! ©f Taranaki county traffic. Nevertheless, we feel sure the Taranaki county is anxious to see this important bridge constructed, and should it be done by control being vested in the Waita-a j Borough Council, & satisfactory readffljjustment of bridge liabilities bctwer.i ;.he two bodies would not be difficult to arrive at.