THE INGLEWOOD COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 31, 26 June 1914, Page 3

THE INGLEWOOD COUNTY.

PROPOSAL TAKING SHAPE, A PROTECTIVE MOVEMENT.

A deputation from the Moa Road Hoard, consisting of Messrs Trimble and .Capper recently waited on the Ingle\wood Chamber of Commence, relative to the county question.

Mr Trimble said the Taranaki County Council had lately made an effort to tbsorb a large portion of the district ying to the west into the county, and lnlcss the road district forms itself nto a county they would possibly find )ther portions absorbed. The reason .hat the effort of the county lailed was ;hat a counter petition was sent in ivhich contained more signatures than ;he first, but this was probably the remit of the intention of the district to :orm itself into a county. This is the nore necessary as it would be a pity : or Inglewood to lose its status as a oeal centre. It was not proposed to ;ake any greater area than that enclosed iy the actual boundaries of the present :oad district with the exception of one >r two sections which have been annexed ;o the district for convenience of workng. If the road district was all merged nto the county, Inglewood would cease so be a distributing centre and all rates ;t«., would have to be sent into New Plymouth and be distributed from there, which would be an injury to Inglewood us well as inconvenient to ratepayers. lhe application would be sure to meet ivith opposition from the Taranaki Council as it would of course curtail ;beir working area by the area taken for this county, but their opposition svould be confined to efforts in the House n opposing the Bill. He hoped the people of Inglewood would assist them n every possible way in getting the :ounty formed. Some said the county ivould be small, but there were smaller, ind compared with some this proposed lounty would be almost large. The annual ordinary revenue would be about £6OOO and there would be also the special rate revenue. It was not proposed to go outside the road district boundaries, which were ,broadly, the Waipuku, Waitara, Waiwakaiho, Waisngona rivers, and the Waitara West district where they joined. If other portions of adjacent country wished to 3ome in, it would be a matter for arrangement, but they had no intention of attempting to absorb any unwilling ratepayers, as they had no wish to force any area to come in. Mr Capper said the Moa district settlers had no wish to force any unwilling ratepayers outside the boundaries to come in. At first he had thought it would be ibetter to include portion of the Clifton County as far as Purangi, as the traffic from there came this way, but he thought now that it would be better to stick to their own boundaries, unless the settlers in the portion of the Clifton County wished to come in, when, of course, they would be welcome. They must bear in mind that the Moa Riding was practically a fourth part of the Taranaki County, and the Moa County, if formed, would have to take over their share of the road and bridge loans, but ithis would not really make any difference as the county keeping riding accounts charged each riding with its share of those liabilities. It would be an advantage to be a separate county, as the different status and the largely increased revenue would enable the county to have up-to-date machinery, as a county had much greater facility for financing than a road board had, and as Inglewood Borough was getting roadmaking machinery beyond its own actual necessity, they could arrange for utilising each other's plant and so save very much duplicating and keep all the machinery more closely and, therefore, more profitably employed. The advantage of having all the rates in one purse instead of two would be very great, and the larger revenue would enable them to have expert management for both main and district roads without heavier percentage cost on the rates. He looked forward to seeing Inglewood main roads vastly improved within the next few years, and he anticipated within that time all tie dairy factories i would be driven and lighted by eSee- | tricity. Fuel was fast becoming too | dear and electricity was so easy to take . about that not only factories but all dwelling houses would also have their 'lclectric light and pow>er for house and | milking sheds, all'of which would tend I very materially to relieve their roads jof a large amount of traffic, thereby making fchef easier to keep in order. He hoped the residents of Inglewood .would give all the assistance in their (power, by moral suasion, to forward i.the effort's of the Moa Road Board in establishing a new county. Mr F. Thompson proposed "that after hearing the views of Messrs Trimble and Capper, members of the Moa Road Board, this chamber resolves to render every possible assistance and hearty support to the proposal to form the Moa Road Board into a county, and that letters be sent to the members for Tara::aki and Stratford requesting them to support the Bill for that purpose when it comes before the House.' This was seconded by Mr do ,Uiiney an d cari ried unanimously.—Record.