PARIHAKA ROAD BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 155, 18 November 1912, Page 6

PARIHAKA ROAD BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting- of the' Parihaka Road Board was held at Rahotu on [Thursday, when there : were present: Messrs Jas. Young (chairman), J Ducker, W. Harvey, P.- Wiilcox and [Hiekey. FOREMAN'S REPORT. Mr. J. P. Kennedy' reported that the £2O granted by the Board on the Newall j road had been spent' 'in repairs on each side of the factory, and all the bad parts had now been, repaired'. Above the Ure-; nui road Messrs Dueker Bros, and staff." had worked for a day. with men and a team carting shingle. Messrs Cassia and Sons, with' drays;- and'-Jones ; ahd Rowen had also assisted, and 40yds were carted and spread free of cost. 1 Good progress had been i. made ' with the Turu road contract, and lie recommended the Board to make, a progress payment of £IOO and also, return the ..deposit of £lB. The Ihain road contract (Public Trust money) had also ibeen completed, . and he recommended, a progress payment of £7O. Hand rails, etc., on .the bridge at Te Nanm road had been erected, and on the Upper Kina road a broken culvert had been replaced by pipes, , Repairs to Stent, Burgess and'Bayley roads were in! progress. He asked for.a grant of £ls for lepairs to the Rahotu road, which was breaking up ; badly. • He had not been able to go on with the opening of the Gregory roadj. as no pipes were available, but he had given the owners notice to fence. Repairs to the Upper Waiteaka road had be'eii carried out, and the Upper Arawhatja road was now being attended to. Para Rukere required seven 2ft pipes in a creek on the old Beach road, where an old culvert had collapsed. Mr. Wiilcox objected to the innovation of returning; a' deposit before the contract was finished,, and it was resolved, on his motion, seconded by Mr. Ducker, to pay the contractor. £llß. and withhold the deposit. As the.road was not fenced off .it was ..resolved to do nothing in the matter of the Beach road.

The report was 'then adopted. ABOLITION OF ROAD BOARDS. The resolution from a conference of rofid boards, held; at Upper Moutere, protesting against the abolition .of road boards save by petition of a majority of ratepayers in the district, and also asking that provision should be made in any local government Bill for the creation of new road districts by resolution of ratepayers in a district, evoked some discussion. ■ Mr. Harvey considered that if road districts were abolished the ratepayers should have a say, as they had to find the money to keep things going. Mr. Willcox thought' that the ratepayers would have a say in a case. Personally, he thought there were too many local bodies. Some road boards could certainly be done without. Mr. Ducker did not agree with all the resolution, but he certainly thought ratepayers should have a say." The chairman was in favor of merging. It would be far better for one body to do all the work. They had tried to merge into the county once. Mr. Willcox: Yes, and succeeded, but were floored on a technical objection. I Continuing, the chairman said that as far as he knew the Parihaka Road Board was pulling along equal to any local body. The settlers apparently were not dissatisfied with their work, as in soma cases it was hard to get them to have representation on the Board. For many years the Opunake ward was unrepresented. This would not have been the ease if there had been dissatisfaction. A resolution, proposed by Messrs Willcox and Ducker, that the letter be received, was carried. GREGORY ROAD. Mr. Willcox stated that a settler who had been notified to fence, so as to open up the Gregory road, asked for .1 little time, as lie had recently purchased the property. The chairman remarked that Mr. Mullholland said he would open the' road himself if the Board did not,

as it was dangerous on sale days to have cattle passing round the hotel corner. In the course of discussion it was elicited that another ratepayer required an inlet to tiis section. No action was taken, and Iv 1 roau will be opened as previously decided. CARKINGTON ROAD. Mr. 0. A. Wilkinson, M.P., wrote that he had made representations to the Minister re the Carrington road grant. Mr. Ducker explained that on the Estimates the sum of £3OO appeared on a £ for £ subsidy basis for this road between Saunders and Newall roads, but £l5O of this was ear-marked from last year, leaving £l5O available. This was of no use, as it would take .£701) to do the necessary work, which would divert all the upper end traffic to Oka to. They required a straight-out grant. The clerk was instructed to make representations to the Minister on the subject. LOCAL BODIES' LOANS AMENDMENT ACT. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, M.P., forwarded a copy of the above Act, which had now become law. He pointed out that if there were any adjustments to make with the county that existed prior to the Board coming into existence it would be necessary to take these into consideration at once. The members remarked that there were no adjustments, as the Board came into existence long before the county. A letter of thanks was ordered to be forwarded to Mr. Wilkinson. GENERAL. I 1 The Board resolved to increase its ' grant to the top of Kahui road from £5 to £7 10s, provided that Mr. Wilton subsidises the amount by a further £2 10s. j Mr. Eatoeh had also done work to the lvalue of over £5. The chairman and Mr.v Willcox were appointed to sign the rate-book. Six settlers on the Stent toad asked the Board to continue the metal a further eight chains. It was pointed out that the road was now £2l in debt, and it was decided to Inform the settlers that new metalling ponnot be done out of overdraft.

Joseph Gear}', Egmont county ranger, applied for the position of ranger for the bye-roads between Oaonui and the Tangatara river. Agreed to; Mr. Spence's services to be dispensed with. Special rates for the ensuing year were struck.

Accounts amounting to £320 were passed for payment.