OMATA RIDING FINANCES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 74, 6 July 1910, Page 7

OMATA RIDING FINANCES

GOVERNMENT ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE.

At the Taranaki .County Council meeting on Monday, Cr. Carter moved the following resolution: "Whereas the Main South road under the administration of the Taranaki County Council being subject to extraordinary traffic as well as ibeing the only means of communication for passengers and goods between New Plymouth and Opunake some forty miles distant, sea communication ibeing impossible and railways unknown to this locality, and whereas the area for rateable purposes being restricted to a narrow strip between the sea and the National Park reserve, and being further penalised by native reserves and the Spotswood speciil •.eitlement not contributing to the funds of the Council, as they are exempt by statute, and whereas the settlers in the a'bove-named district are at present contributing by \yay of s. general rate, separate rate, bridge rate, and toll-gate to the county funds, also rates to road board, and whereas the county liability for the year ending 31st March, 1010, was £3754, and during, the above period additional income was levied in this area amounting to £llOO, this amount, however, has proved totally inadequate to retrieve the position, for at the end of the year there was a deficit of some £BOO. Further, settlers living in this area are occupying highly valued lands, making further taxation unbearable. Therefore, this Council, in the interests of the ratepayers affected, respectfully ask the Government to grant a subsidy of £ for £ up to £IOOO to enable the Council to keep this road open for traffic; and that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Hon. Minister for Public Works and the member for the district." Cr. Carter said he was averse as a general rule to local bodies appealing to. the Government for funds for road main-' tenance, but this was a special case. In the first place, the Crown had acquired the Spotswood settlement, and much of it had been unlet, so that it contributed notliinw towards the cost of upkeep of this road. Again, there was a considerable area of native land that contributed nothing to the county fund. The Council was only asking for its rights, for from these two causes the Council had lost upwards of £llOO in the past seven years. Cr. Andrews seconded, and endorsed Cr. Carter's remarks. He had had it figured out that 19,000 acres of land between New Plymouth and Raliotu was non-productive of rates. Cr. Allanson supported the motion, and Cr. Tate strongly endorsed it, .urging that the Council would very soon be helpless in the matter of maintaining its roads. All over the county the metal was wearing thin, and unless there was some assistance from outside the Taranaki County Council would soon be "like its neighbor, the Clifton County Council, overdrawn "up to the hilt." The chairman said a very strong case had been made out. As for Cr. Tate's prediction regarding the county finances, he considered they were better off now than at this time last year. He had been right through the district as far as I Palmerston lately, and our roads were good compared with those of other counI ties. "We have our financial difficulties," he said, "but We're in clover alongside some of those local bodies whose representatives I've spoken to lately." The motion "was carried.

Cr. Cartdr then moved—That this Council respectfully ask the Public Works Department to allow Mr. G. T. Murray, Resident Road Engineer, to furnish this Council with a report on the condition of the Main South road between Puniho and Bayly roads, and also on the following:— (1) Cost per mile sufficient to maintain such road ; (2) Metal supplies and quality of same, system adopted in putting down new metal, and width' and thickness of same; (3) Is the .present width of road adequate to accommodate passing traffic and has the width of road been contracted in any particular length ? i (4) Would hand-broken metal be cheaper and more economical than machine crushed, taking into considera^

tion durability and the lesser amount of the former that would be available on account of the extra cost? >(5) Wihat time of the year should remetalling contracts be carried out'? (6) Condition of culverts and bridges. Cr. Andrews seconded. Cr. Stevens remarked that the engineers of tile Roads Department were not so likely to be experts on road maintenance as other engineers might be, for they were more conversant with pushing roading through new country. Cr. Hopson agreed with the first two clauses, but thought that much of the I subsequent detail could be collected bv a | committee of the Council in conference] with its foremen, whilst on some points i the Council should know more than the | engineer could possibly tell them. Cr. Andrews concurred, and Cr. Allanson suggested the wisdom of appointing a committee of the Council to make a tour of the road and to report on all these details, leaving Mr. Murray to report on the road generally. It would be rather ''giving themselves away to admit they didn't know these things. Cr. Tate said that undoubtedly the Council lost a good deal of money by not having a man to supervise the taking of stone from the Stony riv ( er. The Coun-! cil got a lot of poor stone, because it was. liwht. As for the system adopted or lay-,

in.oi down the metal, if the reports niaclej to him were correct he was satisfied J that, there was room for improvement j as well as for redaction in the cost o-i maintenance of at least one section of this road. Cr. Tate seized the occasion to remark that the time had arrived lor securing a. second crusher, .preferably by hiring, so that the crushing could be done at the best season of the yeai. The chairman isaid he didn't think .Mi . i ■ Murray could give the Council much fresh information. As for the width o the road, no one would dispute that it would he advantageous to have the metalled roads wider, .but the Council hadn t the money to do it. As far as the comparison between hand-broken and nu chine-broken stone, he knew that tliej Moa riding finances had been straitened because they hadn't been able to get ie crusher there. He believed the foremen, were using their stone too large, and lie quoted an instance where a became convinced despite himself tha fine metal made the best road. e ><-- ;lieved the best time to put down meta was in the winter. which wasn t good ■for the roads carted over Ihere was no need for a report on the budges, auc engineer could tell the condition old culverts. The forenieu iL vert needed renewing when it began to said it was clear from tW remarks made that the bulk o ie c cillors were perfectly satisfied with the administration of the Oma a 11 ■Lest he be misunderstood, he would like to say definitely that he wasirot. On every matter mentioned in the icport 'there had been complaints in th« mast year or so. He wanted to get at the bottom of the business, and there •was (only one- way of getting at it. JJo - J ■

man in business would put up with the constant complaints that the Council had without investigating the matter fully. There was soifiething behind the scenes. Either someone was trying to work a man out and to work a friend in to a billet, or something of that kind was !behind all these complaints against the Isurfaceman by people using the road. ! Acting upon the suggestion of the Council, Cr. Carter subdivided liis motion, and it was decided to ask the Department to allow Mr. G. T. Murray to furnish a report on the condition of the Main South road between Puniho and Bayly road, and upon the cost .per milej sufficient to maintain such a road.

The remaining matters were referred to a committee comprising the chairman and Crs. Carter, Allans on, Andrews and Tate to investigate and report.