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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 214, 19 December 1910, Page 7

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RATES FOR TIMBER CARTING. The matter of the payment of timber road levy by the New Plymouth Sash and Door Company was again before the Moa Road Board on Saturday, the company having stated in a letter to the Board at last meeting that they would not pay more than iy 2 d per 100 ft. for the future. The amount owing, £23 odd, at 3d, is not paid yet, but the chairman said he had interviewed the company since last meeting, ;vnd the amount would be paid shortly, though the Board could rest assured the company was determined not to pay the same levy again. Hitherto the company had never paid any more than 2d to the County Council for carting over the road, and now, although they were carting a greater distance over the Council's road than the Board's they were called upon for 2d instead of l,y 2 d. The chairman said he had pointed out that the county roads were in better order, and consequently not so much damage was done to the roads by the traffic. His advice to the Board was to accept the money instead of going to law over the matter. Section 150 of the Public Works Act read: "Where it appears to the local authority that extraordinary expenses have been incurred by reason of the damage caused by excessive weights or extraordinary traffic thereon, such authority may recover in a summary method the amount of such expenses as may be proved to the satisfaction of the Court." The difficulty that presented itself to the chairman, however, was that no means were provided for a local body, if it did not accept what was offered, to ascertain what proper payment should be, i.e., there was no court of appeal. Another way open to the Board was to repair the damage done and take the matter to Court, but the difficulty was to decide what proportion of the damage had been done by the continuation of the traffic and what was due to it in the first case. He would like them to understand that no local body had ever obtained as much as they claimed. Then section 151 provided for the making of a by-law forbidding traffic unless the cost, as estimated by the local authority, of reinstating tne road is previously paid. The penalty for a 'breach of such by-law was a fine not exceeding £2O. The Stratford County Council made a by-law, and prosecuted some people, but the Magistrate dismissed the case on the ground that the by-law was unreasonable, and the Council did not appeal against the decision. The Taranaki County Council also made a by-law, and prosecuted one man, but though it was dismissed on the technical ground that the information was sworn before a member of the Council, the Magistrate in the case gave it as his opinion—although there was no occasion to do so—that the by-law was unreasonable. The advice of Mr. Martin, solicitor for the Municipal Association, was that the by-law was good, and if tSie cases had been carried to a higher court the local bodies would have succeeded on the point. If the Board made a by-law under section 151 and brought it into force they would do so knowing that they would have to take the case to the Supreme Court for decision. The chairman of the Stratford County Council. had told him that his Council had made arrangements with the sawmillers to pay a certain amount, but some of the councillors were dissatisfied with that arrangement, and the Council informed the sawmillers that they would not accept that amount any longer, and wanted more. The result was a number of legal actions, and the Council got nothing, and had to go to the sawmillers and ask them to make an arrangement, eventually getting less than they were originally paid. The great uncertainty of the iaw was his reason for recommending the Board to accept the amount from the Sash and Door Company. At the same time the question was really one for the members to decide, and he did not want to influence them. He moved that the Board, while accepting from the New Plymouth Sash and Door Company the payment of l.y 2 d per 100 ft. of timber carted over the Lepper and Egmont roads, protests that the payment is insufficient to repair the damage i done to the roads by the timber wag-1 goiis.

A long discussion followed, an amendment that the amount be not accepted being eventually withdrawn, and Mr. Lawrence seconded the motion, which was carried.

It was then resolved that a by-law dealing with heavy traffic be made under section 151 of the Publie Works Act.