STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 183, 20 December 1912, Page 8

STRATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL.

! • MONTHLY MEETING. j (Front Our ■Stratford Reporter). The Stratford County Council met on Wednesday. Present: Councillors W. Hathaway (chairman), Jas. Thomson, J. ChristolTol, John Smith, E. Marfell, W. E. Walter, and W. Rogers.- . ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer reported for the month' as follows: The drainage eon tract in the Ms.kuri Valley was proceeding steadily, should bp out of hand in about sjx weeks.. The metalling' of the the Mangaelur road had been commenced. The boulder contracts in the South'and West ridings. were progressing' steadily. Green had finished his contract, and moved out to Wai'wiri road to commence the re-metalling' contract there. Theb ridge gang had completed Young's bridge, the concrete culvert on the Majngaehw road), and the. re-decking of the. Manganui bridge, and were now putting up a small structure to give access to the Waipuku gravel pit. The next work would be the erection of the Fin.nerty road bridge. The engine shed | had been completed and tlie Toko cottage would be out of hand'shortly.. 'Hie grader had been put into commission, • and was doing excellent work on tlie[East road. Messrs Anderson's had' not yet been able to procure a driver for the steam rolling plant, which- was urgently needed' in connection with re'metalling work now being carried out. The only satisfactory way of dealing with the Lower- Pembroke road was to iscarify it, add enough extra metal to make a fair coat, and' tlien roll' it' in; estimated cost, £2OO per mile. lie had made enquiries, and found that no further metal was obtainable from Sentry Hill, so it would be necessary to invite fresh tenders for Toko and Gordbn road' metalling: Discussing tlie Pembroke road'problem, councillors discovered that the finances of the North riding were "very tight;" but it was eventually decided to get out GOO yards of boulders, which would be enough t'o reinstate half'the road; Efforts will be made to secure metal from the Public Works Department's Skinner road' pit'. A QUESTION OF COMPENSATION. A petition to the Minister of Ptib'lic Works was forwarded' for the Council's endorsement, running as follows:—"We, the undersigned settlers, farmers and residents, would respectfully bring under your notice the very great injustice done to some of your pioneer settlers on the route of the Stratford-Wliangamomona railway through the arbitrary action of the Public Works Department in not giving reasonable compensation for land taken. In some cases land' Ka» been rendered practically useless iii wet weather through the blockihg-up of'' drains, and in this connection we would'point out to you that previous to this railway being formed through the country the had drained their land,, but through the Public Works Dfepartment blocking the drains they had been put to further trouble and expense. lii one case, that of Mr. Hiizziff, £ 1500 had been- spent in draining, but the railway had cut through the drains, causing the land" to be flooded and the grass to perish j and the only compensation'that was offered was £55, and'this in face of losing a large number of stock. We would also respectfully point out' that the- worst of the sufferers are Crown tenants. All the freeholders from Stratford to H-uiroa received compensation.The late Minister of Public Works, Mr. Mac Donald, visited the district last May, and'promised to a mewl tlie law and give reasonable compensation. All we ask is that the settlers be left in-no worse position than their neighbors, wh'ose property the railway has benefited and'not 'injured in any way. We would also isk that tliese drains be cleaned out at ionce, and that this be dbne every year, 'and that the settlers be given a fair and reasonable compensation-for land acquired for railway purposes." ; Mr. Huzziff waited'oil'tlie" Council in support of the petition. ; In answer to the chairman, Mi\ Huzzill said there was "an- odd name or so" ■of people who were neither residents 'nor ratepayers Sir the area: affected. . The chairman said' that there were residents of Stratford' there. BU<l to his mind, tlie- signatures should' lie those of ■property-owners or occupiers iii' the uis'triet.

; Crs. Smith and Walter spoke in support of the petition. But the latter doubted whether the Council should cndbrse any estimates, of losses.. It was absolutely necessary that the Railway Department's dVaiiis should' be cleaned out annually, else it was hopeless fol the settlers to attempt to effectually drain the land. Tlie councillors could endorse the statement that certain people had received compensation, and that others- had' not..

Answering a question, Mr. Ruzziff said he had been- offered' only £55 for special damages and to make ai bridge. Asked whether tlie matter affected the county roads, the engineer said that unless the drains were kept clear .there was a danger of the road' becoming inundated.

Of; Thomson moved', and the chairman seconded, That this Council considers the Government should pay compensation for land taken: for railway purposes between liuiroa and To Wera, and' thai the drains and outlets for water be cleaned out at least annually, as at present a large area of land and the county roads are being damaged by the blockage caused by the overflow.

f Cr. Marfell objected to the firsti -part of the motion. The Council had no business to interfere in the matter of compensation. It had to be remembered that the mere building of the* railway was to some extent compensation.. It was true that freeholders had been compensated, but not the Crown tenants. He did not consider that the Government of the day should have to give- compensation for land of which thoy- owned the freehold. Cr. Hathaway: The bush, was felled, I suppose ? ■Or. Marfell believed iiu compensation to that amount. He certainly would support the request that the Government departments should be prevented from damaging private- lands, |, " Thomson stood! for compensation for land taken and damages to drains as well. J Cr. Smith could not see why the ; pre-

sent Government s] administration oi ment. M Cr. ants were as other equally by tl^H The protesting, be, recorded^^^l Mr. t|ie A west, had' applfea.t^^^^H The through . Cir,. time. ' Cr. other things^^^l The working dog^^H The leu the ConflHß Ivors to ' Act that lauthorities i works ment grants.—lH