WAIMATE COUNTY ROADS

Taranaki Daily News, 13 April 1928, Page 10

WAIMATE COUNTY ROADS

WORK FOR MONTH OF MARCH MONTHLY MEETING OF COUNCIL. ENGINEER SUBMITS ills REPORT. The monthly meeting of the VVaimatc West County Council was held yesterday. Present: Crs. E. Long (chairman), J. F. Stevenson, J. S. McKay, J. Leslie. Sir William Le Fleming, F. Mourie and A. Garalin. The county engineer, Mr. J. A, Hansen, reported that during the month the staff had been resurfacing where necessary and tar-patching along the Skeet, Taikatu, Auroa, Rama and Main South Roads. Thirty-five chains of the Sutherland Road had been refaced with bitumen. ■ Three concrete pipe culverts had been put in, one on the Auroa Road, one on the Skeet Road, and one across the Taikatu Road. Culverts and water-tables had been cleaned out along the Skeet, Auroa, Taikatu and Main South Roads. The council’s grader for five days had been grading the town board's streets. The engineer recommended the purchase of a quantity of boulders from Mr. Lowe at 5s per yard. The report was adopted. The purchase of the stone was left in the hands of the chairman and Crs. McKay and Mourie. The sanitary inspector reported that during the quarter ending March 31 two cases of pneumonia had been notified. The medical officer of health at New Plymouth (Dr. R. J. R. Mecredy) advised that he was asking medical practitioners in the council’s district to inform the council by 'phone as well as ly the statutory notification whenever there, was a notifiable disease. In such cases the council was asked to notify the health inspector by ’phone. C. A. Malcolm, Riverlea, drew the council’s attention to the state of the Mangawhero Road near the Eltham county boundary. He asked that something be done to improve it. The conn-, cil instructed the engineer to attend to the matter.

The application of a motor oil company to erect a sign at Kaupokonui was refused, the main grounds being that signs on the roadside were apt to distract, motorists’ attention.

The chairman reported that in the recent allotment of additional highways the Waimate county had received the Skeet and Normanby Roads as main highways.

He eaid he had formed one of the deputation which waited on the Minister in an endeavour to secure some compensation . ’for . the roads completed before the advent of the Main Highways Act. The deputation had received a good hearing from the prime Minister and Mr. F. W. Furkert, although they were very guarded in their reply. In this connection Mr. Long paid a tribute to the assistance of Mr. 11. G. Dickie, M.P., in arranging the conference.

“We ioserve more main highways for saying the board so much money by building our roads prior to its coming into existence,” continued Mr. Long. He said the council should be entitled to bring a portion of the Auroa Road under the main highways. The Manaia Town Board’s request that the council re-tar the footpaths in Manaia was granted subject to the usual conditions of payment for labour and matberial. Cr. Stevenson referred to ths “very great improvement to the county roads” since the patches of bad tar had received attention. The chairman said the roads certainly had looked very “scabby” but had not been detrimentally affected. The engineer had saved a good deal of money by waiting as long as possible before reconditioning them. The engineer said the reason for leaving the work had been to allow as much of the old tar as possibe to wear off. The longer bitumen was down the more. • slippery it became, he explained,