TARANAKI COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 November 1921, Page 8

TARANAKI COUNTY.

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. > PAST MONTH'S WORK. The Taranaki County Council met yesterday. Present: Crs. J. S. Connett (chairman), J. Andrews, A. Morton, J. Wooldridge,' S. Vickers, and O. Penwarden. The overseer (Mr. G. Meredith) reported on the work of the month as follows: Plant and General.—During the month the crusher worked 11 days 2 hours crushing 1150 cubic yards of unetal at the Oakura depot. This has been distributed as follows: Omata Riding, re-coating 61% chains, on the Main Road 760 yards, Allan’s Hill re-coating 4 chains 44 yards, dumped for Hurford Road hill 44 yards, maintenance Hurford Road 14 yards,’ Waireka Road 4 yards, Okato Riding: Main Road re-coating 32 yards, maintenance 28 yards, Koru Road recoating 212 yards and S yards for maintenance, delivered to Mr. Gray at Tapuae 4 yards. Lorries. —No. 2 truck has been thoroughly overhauled and Nos. 1 and 3 have had slight repairs effected. The lorries and crushing staff have been engaged during the latter part of the month carting tar bitumen in the Omata and Okato Ridings. We have delivered 176 cubic yards to the Main Road in the Omata Riding from the Borough dump, and 42 yards to Main Road, Okato Riding, i from Mr. A. Mack’s dumpi and 11 yards from the Oakura depot to Allan’s Hill. Seventy two yards have been carted from the prison quarry to the Omata Riding and distributed on the Hurford, Cowling, and Frankley Roads for maintenance. Mangorei Riding.—The foremen in this riding have been engaged water-tabling, patching, and general maintenance. As requested, I made an Inspection of the top end of Albert Road, and find the metal .portion in a very weak state, about 60 chains will require re-coating as soon as possible. This will require approximately 500 'cubic yards of metal. The Hill and Mrtudc Roads are also very weak in places and will require approximately 500 yards of metal to put the two in reasonable order. I would recommend calling tenders to haul 1000 yards of boulders from the river near the intersection of the Hill and Albert Roads. A good dumping and crushing site could be made on the vacant land between the old and new -roads at the top of the hill near the bridge. The Kent Road requires about 200 yards of unetal on the lower end; this could be supplied from the Junction Road depot. Waitara Riding.—The foremen in this riding have been engaged patching, cleaning, and water-tabling, and usual miscellaneous repairs. The Kelly, Tate, and Waitara Roads broke up badly during the wet weather; maintenance metal is required on these roads. Omata Riding.—Foreman Seaimnrk has been engaged re-coating the Main Road a distance of 61% chains, taking 7GO yards of metal and he is at present engaged with tte tar work. Foreman Eva’s time has been taken up’ patching, water-tabling, and general repairs, a considerable amount of patching being done on the top end of the Frankley Road.. During the month the tar employees have been at work in this riding, 61% chains of grouting have been done in the Main Road and 3% chains in 11: o Okato Riding, a total of 64 chains. About 1 mile of sealing has been done between Allan’s Hill and Omata. The weather has been very much against this work. Okato Riding.—’General maintenance work has been carried out in this riding. Foreman Hayes was engaged in the early part of the month assisting with the tar work in the Omata Riding. The small roller is at present working in this riding in Foreman Sefton’s length, rolling the new metal on the Surrey Hill Road. The wash-out in the side cutting on the Beach Road near the Pltone Road has been attended to. The road has been cut back on the solid about 3 feet above the level of the old road at the wash-out; this has improved the grade of the hill and makes the road safe for traffic, Mr. Penwarden and his men doing a considerable amount of work free of charge. Culvert protection work opposite the Oakura factory is now alimost, completed, the hole scoured out below the culvert has been filled with large boulders and netted in and a small groyne built on each side of the stream, one to protect Mr. Bell’s property and one to protect the outlet of the culvert and the County Road. 50 yards of boulders and 80 sq. yards of netting was used to carry out this work. Mr. Bell Jias agreed to contribute £25 towards’the cost. Foreman Jury has been engaged with the teams hauling boulders off the beach for the Ahu Abu Road and has approximately 450 yards out to date. He also hauled the 50 yards of boulders for -.he protection work at the Oakura culvert and assisted with the work. Mr. A. Cowling (crusher foreman) is in charge of Ahu Ahu Road earthwork, and considering the very wet weather, has made very good progress. Contracts.—Mr. Anstis has made a start with the work of cutting down and grading Timaru Hill on the Main South Road. Messrs. Grecen and Pentelow arc progressing very well with the quarrying and breaking stone in the pit on the Plymouth Road. A distance of 30 chains Is now metalled from the Tapuae Bridge towards the Main Road. A start has been made to metal from the Main Road back towards the bridge, and this will be carried out as soon as the metal is available. Kirihau Road Earthwork.—Mr. Baker is progressing slowly with his contract, the weather and shortage of labor keeping him back. Mr. Anstis is letting his contract stand over for the time being, as he is anxious to push on with the Timaru Hill. Upper Carrington Road Earthwork.—The contractors are progressing slowly, the weather being very bad in this locality. THE REPORT DISCUSSED. Tenders are to be called for the supply of 1600 yards of boulders at the intersection of the Hill and Albert Roads. It was decided that tenders be invited lor 1060 yards of stone for the Upper Kirihau Road. After other discussion on general matters tile report was adopted. EROSION AT WAIWAKAIHO. The Taranaki Farmers’ Meat Company wrote asking for permission to erect a groin approximately 40 feet into the Waiwakaiho river about 120 feet above their main outfall. The company Intimated that their intention was to protect the outfall as far as possible, and they proposed to obtain the necessary stone from the river itself. The cl:airman reported that as the matter was an urgent one he had inspected the site i;i company with the overseer, and had authorised the company to proceed with the work, the groyne being now nearly finished. The chairman’s action was confirmed. A letter was received from Mr. R. C. Hughes drawing attention to the inroad upon his sections, Nos. 23 and 24, Glenavon, situated on the eastern side of the Waiwakaiho near the bridge. As the erosion complained of had taken place since the erection of the weir he looked to the council, as one of the local bodies which built it, to prevent further injury. He suggested this might be accomplished if one or more groynes were erected so as to divert the water towards the middle of the stream. It was decided to reply Intimating that the council recognise no liability in the matter. ROADING REQUIREMENTS. A deputation consisting of Messrs. A. Kilpatrick, L. Seamark and A. Western, waited on the council, asking that the lower portion of Barrett Road be graded and widened. It was suggested to the petitioners that the most satisfactory method of dealing with the position would be .to raise a. loan, and the matter was left, over, Mr. Kilpatrick, on behalf of the deputation, undertaking to ondeavor to have loan papers (already in circulation) completed. Mr. J. Thomas attended at the meeting to ask if the council could metal the upper portion of the Barrett Road, between his property and Frankley Road. The chairman said he was afraid that in view of the council’s finances they could not consider any propositions regarding new metalling. Perhaps something could be done by way of loan. Mr. Thomas expressed the opinion that it was hardly fair for the pqupcll |o ftsk settlers who were already paying rates to incur further liability, The chairman said the most the council could be expected to do with the rates was lo maintain the roads once the}’ were put Subsequently it was suggested that Mr. Thomas should confer with the settlers who were moving in the ’""Her of metalling another portion of the same road.

Two settlers from the Croydon Road, Messrs. Gray and Pease, waited on the council to ask as to what was the present position in respect of the proposed loan for the road. The chairman replied that, owing to an alteration in the procedure by the authorities the necessary papers would have to be signed again by the ratepayers. On Mr. Gray suggesting that some temporary relief might be given in regard to spreading a little metal on the hills, the chairman replied that the council were not in a position to agree to this. The papers in connection with the loan would be sent out. shortly, and this matter could then be pushed on. Messrs. A. D. Gray, James Harrison and H. Shaw wrote asking the council to apply for a loan for £125 for the purpose of forming and metalling 24 chaijis on the lower end of the Leith Road. Carting of all stone would be done free by Mr. Gray. The necessary steps are to be taken for the raising of the loan. Nine ratepayers of the Corbett Road wrote petitioning the council to take the necessary steps to raise a special loan of £lOOO for the formation and metalling of the Corbett and Wills Roads.—Agreed to. Advice was received that the State Advances Board had granted the council’s application for a loan of £BO for the purpose of completing the forming, metalling and regrading of the Plymouth Road. ARBITRATION COURT AWARDS. The Rang!tike! County Council wrote outlining steps which had been taken to give effect to the remit passed at the last counties’ conference, asking that county councils be exempt from all the operations of all Arbitration Court awards. The council intimated that they had addressed the members of Parliament in their district, asking them to arrange for the Introduction of the necessary legislation. The co-operation of all. county councils throughout the Dominion was now sought in order to ensure the passing of an amendment to the present Act which would "safeguard their interests and effectually prevent any form of award, with the attendant irritating conditions being thrust upon them at the behest of labor unionists in the towns. The council decided to support the proposal, and to communicate with tli» member for the district, informing him of the council’s views. TIKORANGI- SUSPENSION BRIDGE. A report was received from Messrs. Sladden and Paliner regarding the state of the Tikorangi bridge, and recommended that the restoration of the trusses and decking was desirable. The whole of the timber, with the exception of the towers and piles, seemed to be of rimu, and the bridge was about 25 years old. * The report expressed the opinion that no further patching was desirable; that the .bridge was not safe for the loads it was called upon to carry in its present condition; and that in the very near future a heavy expenditure must be faced /if the bridge was to be kept open for traffic. The chairman stated that the bridge was a joint liability between the Taranaki and Clifton Counties. The engineer to the latter body (Mr. Dowsett) had recently reported, giving an estimate of £l5OO for extensive repairing and replacements. Of this the Taranaki Council's share was £6OO. In view of the heavy cost of repairs, or the expense involved in a new structure, it was decided to ask the Clifton County Council whether they did not think it advisable to dismantle the structure and close the bridge altogether. GENERAL. In response to a letter from the Taranaki Education Board applying for a subsidy towards the New Plymouth Technical College, the council resolved to vote a similar amount as in past years—namely, £2O. Permission was given to Alfred Cole to enclose a small portion of the Dover Road, Okato, near his residence. The chairman reported that a purchase of 21,000 gallons of tar had been made in anticipation of the work to be done during the season. A request was received from Mr. M. R. Hill, contractor, Okato, asking that repairs be effected to a couple of bad holes in the Upper Punlho Road. He offered to assist in the worl! with a couple of teams. It was resolved trt reply Informing Mr. Hill that the work has been authorised, and will be carried out wbe/i convenient. The r-e-eatabllsliment of the pound at OkatQ

was discussed by the council, but no decision was arrived at. It was decided that trees overhanging near the Stony River bridge be cut down. A circular letter was received from the Woodville County Council soliciting the council’s co-operation in protesting against the Imposition of * a rural delivery fee by the Postmaster-General,’it being, in their opinion, a form of Indirect taxation applied to country Settlers who were at a great disadvantage as far as postal facilities were concerned. —No action was taken, members being of the opinion that those having the benefit of a rural box should pay for it. It was decided to notify the New Plymouth Council that the council was prepared to take over the beach gravel contract held by the btirough from the New Plymouth ■ Harbor Board. The chairman reported that a meeting with representatives of the Inglewood County had been held to discuss the protection of the Upper Carrington Road boundary bridge. It was agreed that boulders be placed on the eastern side of the river, above the bridge, and that the work be carried out by the Inglewood Council. -\ n application from George H. Fletcher, uaitara. for a slaughter-house license, was approved.