CLIFTON COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 February 1922, Page 7

CLIFTON COUNTY.

MONTHLY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of the Clifton County ouncil was held at Waitara on Friday, when there were nreeent: Crs. R. H. Pigott (chairman), *F. C. Jones, H. A. Foreman, C. H. Barnitt, and R. Mounsey. Leave of absence wae granted to Crs. T. McKenzie (who is ill in the hospital) and S. J. Sutton (who was assisting at the. Mangamaehj bridge wash-out), , ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr. C. F. DoWsttt) reported as follows: ” •

Waihi Riding.—Paring the mo&th, arid after many delays, the new castings fiat the crusher and aftee* being put ip:position the plant was transferred to the Tprangi depot, where crushing commenced, and ft <9 hoped the Allen Road section will be completed shortly* Of the Mataro Road the metalltog contract hag been recommenced* and pushed ahead with what transport has avaiiaVffc, and this work Should be completed by nogt meeting. The usual ’maintenance and repairs have been attended to.

Tikorangi. Riding,---The work of recoating oh the Inland North Road has been checked by broken weather, but it is hoped to com(plete it n^at.week,*. .On the Otaraoa Road Cok’s metal has already been put down, but was hardly sufficient to reach the foot of the hUk The -small extra amount, I Understand?

will be supplied by the settlers who are quarrying to provide stone for Pukaekuri Hill and other nearby:'sections. With reference to the settlers’ requests to alter grades on certain sections under the road formation contract, the 7 resident engineer reports that it is advteabta that the limit of T in 15 should be maintained, and where the grades are flatter than this limit it would be possible to increase thetn to this' gradient*, and equalise the quantities by an additional width. On the Nikorima Road the stone necessary to complete the metal contract has been stacked at the depot, and JI hope to see this work completed during the current month.

Ngatlmaru Riding: During my Inspection the grader had started at Kiore and was working its way toward Matau, with a halt on the Kiore Saddle to fill up ruts and sand bad portions. In Flew of the resident engineer's letter the proposed metalling is Indefinitely postponed, and it is not possible at present to estimate the cost., thereof. The Maogaoapa Road* throughout its length was in a very fair condition, having had its full share of the roadman's time. On the Rako Rako Road a little work -had been done since my last inspection, and further work will be carried out when the drain ia sufficiently deepened to carry off the surplus water. The county cottage at Purangl is being occupied at present by the Inglewood County roadman. The usual maintenance and repairs have been attended to.

Urenui Riding.—The grader is now in this district, and has formed up the Avenue Road and raked in the gravel on the Main Road and Is available for the Kaipikarl Road and thence to Pukearuhe. On the Piko Road two small bridges are now receiving attention at the hands of the local bridge builder, and the new roadman for the district (Mr. W. K. Mitchell) was installed on Monday last. I have requested the contractors for the Okoke metalling to proceed with the work started last season. The contractors for the beach boulders have commenced their contract, and

are depositing stone on surveyed road adjacent to the Urenui pa. - Further gravel has been obtained from pit between 25 and 26mile pegs, Mokau Road, and utilised for repairs and patching. At Pukearuhe the access road to the beach at Wai-iti has been completed, and will probably be sanded when the formation has sufficiently firmed up. The fence on the filling below the township has been renewed, and the usual maintenance and repairs have received attention.

Unxtt Riding.—The Government have been pushing ahead with re-eeating the gravelled portion of the Mokau Road with shell rock, having provided their staff with the county scarifier for this purpose, and as their roller is following up the work a good job is being made. The county roadman is assisting in the spreading. On the Mangabia Road, was visited by Cr. Barnitt, the.settiers and myself, it was decided to fascine and form up about 41 chains ef road at an estimated cost of about £7O. The settlers were instructed to start the work, and It will be necessary for the council to authorise the full expenditure if they think fit. The work could be spread over, say, two or three mouths, to ease the financial position. A tender has been received for quarrying shell rock at Uruti from the Main Road pit, but it is suggested that metal be obr tained from the Uruti Road face. The progfeed of widening at the Huff at the 30-mile peg is proceeding with the aid of two men. The usual maintenance and repairs base received attention.

Mokau Riding.—Sanding the Okau Road has made no progress, owing to the roadman's inability to secure teams, but endeavors are being made to overcome this difficulty. I have arranged that the Kotare roadman should proceed to the Kiwi and put It in serviceable condition. The amount of grass on its surface would indicate that it is carrying very little traffic. About a week’s work was put in on the Mangatoro Road, and further time will be given this month. On the Mangaonga Road various culverts have been put in, drains cut and the road formed up, and further culverts and improvements will be effected in the near future. The report was adopted. A PUKEARUHE complaint. J. W. H. Martin wrote calling attention to the unsatisfactory state of the Wai-iti Road, whieh had been in a state of disrepair for some considerable time. He understood that the Pukearuhe surfaceman had been instructed to give his whole time and attenion to the Main Coast Road. If that Was so, he hoped the council would deviate from such an unwise policy forthwith. The council for a number of years had been receiving a handsome revenue from the ratepayers on the Wai-iti Road and the ratepayers had, comparatively speaking, a mere pittance in return for same. If the road was not attended to and put in order before the coming winter set in, there would be serious trouble ahead. The engineer said that men were not told to look after any one road in their riding, but had to look after them all. The grader would go up that district after it had finished in the Kaipikari district. MIMI-MOKAU ROAD. The resident engineer (Mr. Thoe. M. Ball) wrote stating that the large amount of stock that was now passing along the main road was interfering seriously with the metalling on the Mimi-Mokau Road and he asked if the council could arrange to have the stock traffic diverted along the Clifton Road. He understood that some small bridges on that road required minor repairs to enable that to be done. The ehairman stated that the council would be glad to accede to the request if it had the money available. He considered that they should notify the engineer that the council had no money available for the work, which the Public Works Department might carry out. At one time it was suggested that the local bodies concerned should contribute to the cost of improving the tunnel, but nothing had come of it. On his motion, seconded by Cr. Mounsey, it was resolved to reply to Mr. Ball on the above lines. QUESTION OF ACCESS. Mrs. Jane Brown, of Remuera. wrote stating that she had been informed that the council intended carting 1000 yards of stone from tl>e beach across her land, also to deposit the stones on the land close to the road; and strongly object - I ing to the proposal. She stated that I oounoil appeared to take it for

granted, that the property belonged to the public, insead of being private. The chairman stated that he had placed the matter in the hands of the county solicitor to? take the necessary legal "steps to obtain access. Later, Mrs. Brown arid her solicitor waited on the council, the latter contending that the council had no power to enter on private property in order to obtain access to the beach. The matter was then discussed with a view to coming to some agreement, and after some discussion a satisfactory arrahgement was come to.

BRIDGE LOAN. In connection with the proposal to raise; a bridge loan, Mr. C. R. Stead (coufity solicitor) stated, that when in Wellington recently he had. interviewed the Advances Department and had ascertained that it would be possible for the council to take the necessary steps to raise a loan of £14,000, ‘of . which £5OOO, per annum would be available from the department. He also understood that it might be possible to waive the clause whereby when applying for a loan the sum raised for each bridge had to be stated separately. The council considered that this was vpry satisfacl. ,as it was much more economical to raise the full loan by one poll,' and £5OOO would be as much as the council could expend in one vear.

On the motion of the chairman and Or. Jones it was decided to take steps to raise the necessary loan.

SPIRIT OF SELF HELP.

Messrs. J. Whitehead, P. G. Gaustad and H. Taylor, settlers on the Mataro Road, waited on the council and complained of tne state of the road. Mr. Whitehead said that there were a good many settlers on the road, many of them young men making their homes, and it was only right that they should, be able to get out at times. At present the road was so bad that it was impossible to get a cart along it. (hie settler did go through with, his trap, but always carried a pick and shovel to fill in the bad holes, and the speaker had had his horse come down three times. Nothing had. been done on the road for five years. He admitted that when they applied to the council three years ago, labor was not available, but the settlers were now prepared to do the works, providing they were paid, and were also agreeable to supply all horses and implements free. The chairman agreed that the road was in a bad state and with other councillors received the request sympathetically, Cr. Barnitt remarking that they were always willing to help those who helped themselves. I was unanimously decided, on the motion of the chairman and Cr. Barnitt, to expend up to £5O in the manner indicated. GENERAL. Mr. Geo. King, New Plymouth, wrote stating that Messrs. Barham and Ackland were prepared to pla.ee gravel from the stream on to the Mangamaeho Road, and . Messrs. Baker and Couchman were prepared to place gravel anywhere on the road at prices which he considered reasonable. He therefore hoped that the council could see its way clear to do at least the portion of the road around the cutting. Mr." W. T. Jennings wrote enclosing a letter from the Minister of Public Works acknowledging receipt of the correspondence with respect to the Mokau power supply project! He stated that he would be pleased to have enquiries made in the direction desired and would communicate with the council further, as soon as possible. Mr. F. Swindells, Inspector of Public Health; submitted a list of infectious diseases notified within the 1 Clifton County for the year ending December 31, 1921. These totalled 19., viz., scarlet fever 1 1, diptheria 2, enteric 2, pneumonia 1, influenza pneumonia 1, infatile paralysis 2. The number of cases was 8.15 per cent, of the total cases for the whole of the district, and taken on a population basis was at the rate of 8.9 per 1000 of population. Mr. E. G. Bleakley wrote thanking the council for having graded up the Avenue Road. The man in charge of the grader had made a fairly good job of the work.