NEW PLYMOUTH BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 October 1917, Page 8

NEW PLYMOUTH BOROUGH COUNCIL.

IW MEETING OP THE WORKS COMMITTEE.

A meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council, sitting as a Works Committee, was held last night, when there were' present: The Mayor (Mr. C. H. Burgess), presiding, and Crs. J. W. Hayden, F. J. Hill, W. F. Short, W. R, Collis, and Ceo. Browne.

The Streets Sub-Committee recommended: (a) That in connection with the £42,000 loan and £3OOO supplementary loan all allocations for formation and metalling, kerb and channel, footpaths, p,nd tarring and sanding in each particular street scheduled in the original loan estimates be lumped, and the amount available for each particular street be shown in one item; that unless specially authorised by the council, no tarring and 6anding in sueh streets be carried out, and any money so released be utilised in necessary work in the same street and in such other streets as the council may from time to time determine, (b) That out of the tarring and sanding vote released by the. above resolution £3OO be allocated' for improving the footpaths in the central portion of the town, (c) That the borough engineer be authorised to proceed with certain works, the cost thereof to be charged to the £42,000 loan, (d) That in so far as the £42,000 loan and supplementary loan are concerned the following streets be treated as completed and the balance of the allocation in each case be no longer retained: Bullef Street, allocation £216 Jls 3d, spent £194 14s 3d; Dawson Street, £sl 12s «d, £23 10s 4d ; McLean Street, £17.5, .€155 12s 3d. In his remarks the Mayor said that as conditions had materially changed since the loan was raised the council was justified in varying certain conditions of tho expenditure of the remainder of loan monies. ■

' The committee's report was adopted, with a recommendation that certain streets be tarred and sanded. It was resolved to utilise the Mt. Bryon reserve as a grazing paddock for a term of three years and to expend the sum of £lB on re-erecting the fence and repairing the gateway. The Minister for Internal Affairs drew attention to a recent case, Geraghty v. .forter, in which the Full Court held that clause 4 of the general motor regulations was ultra vires, the manner in which identification discs shall be affixed being a matter that must be determined by 'the Governor-General himself by an CVder-in-Council, and in respect of which he could not delegate his powers to registering authorities. The decision would make it necessary to amend the regulations, and a draft of the proposed Order-in-Council affecting this amendment was enclosed for the council's consideration. The borough engineer pointed out that the particularly bad state of a portion' [of the upper end of Brougham Street and of the road leading from Pendarves Streef. to the gaol put a great strain on horses and vehicles. Authority was given to-expend up to £2O on the portions of the road in question. The engineer suggested that £25 to £3O should be expended on re-surfitcing a length of four or live chains of Gill Street near 'Davidson Street. This length was approximately two feet above to* water-table, and might he conveniently lowered in keeping with the kerbinw while other resurfacing work was being carried out.—The necessary authority was given. Mr. S. J. Smith was granted permission to sub-divi'de a property at Te Henui, having a frontage to Devon Street, into three sections of equal size. Mr. Smith also wrote asking if the council would raise any objection to the planting of an avenue of trees on the western side of the Mangorei Road, providing the work was done by the residents without expense to the council The engineer stated that providing the trees were planted at a distance of three feet from the kefting and at an approximate .spacing of thirty feet he saw no reason for objection. Permission will be granted, providing the council approves of a schedule of the planting to be submitted at a later meeting. , Other matters referred to in 'Mr. Smith's letter were those of the advisability of filling in a bad hole near Taylor's store at Fitzroy, and of the necessity for cutting back a hedge encroaching on Mangorei Road. The engineer was instructed to attend to these matters.

I The borough engineer reported that he had interviewed the district railway engineer regarding a site for the erection of a public convenience at the end of Brougham Street in St. Aubyn Street, and had submitted to him plans of two possible sites, which would have equal advantages from the council's point of view, but neither found favor with the railway department on the ground that the free view from the sidings to the road would be interfered with awl an accident might result, and that consequently the department could not agree to the" erection on either site. Cr. W. A. Collig asked if an arrangement could be come to whereby business people who were supplied with electric light at their residences and places of business might have their two meters read on or about the same day. The Mayor said that such an arrangement could entail much more office work and would lead to considerable confusion. The idea was not workable. Cr. Collis also referred to a couple of bad patches of Devon Street, one in front of the Criterion Hotel right-of-way and another near the White Hart. The engineer stated that instructions had already been issued for repairing the parts of Devon Street in question.