COUNTY COUNCILS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18398, 3 June 1925, Page 7

COUNTY COUNCILS.

ELLESMERE. Th» monthly meeting of the EUesmcre County Council was held at Leeston on Monday. Present: Crs. John Cunningham John Hcslop, John Nixon, A. Quigley, J. P. McEvedr. A deputation waited on tho Council to bring under notice tho condition of the road irom Crolthoad homestead to Graham's corner, and back past Montgomery's to Tong's homestead, in the Southbridge riding. . The sides of Stoiry's road were also in bud order, and a water-race in that locality had been over-flowing, causing flooding of property. The engineer was instructed to inspect the roads and races referred to and Id have, whatever impiovemcnts he considered necessary carried out. Mi- R. G. Bishop asked that Oaileigh road should be repaired. j The clerk proposed that application should be made for a Government grant of £IOO for Oakleigh road repairs. Tho chairman informed Mr Bishop that the engineer would inspect the road and have the worst places attended to. The. following property transfers were notified:—J. H. Shemmings to W. Allen. 6 acr?s Railway reserve, Banksidc: R. Burnott, leasehold at Doyleston to W. J. Doyle: D. T. Wraight, 37 perches at Dunsandel to Lodge Ahurewa; R. T. Buchanan to J. B. Marshall, sections 1 and 5 Leeston soldier settlement; A. E. Mackinson to David Montgomery, section 9, Homobrook settlement: P. F. Chamberlain to Alexander Allen. 100 acres; estitc B. McDraith l - G. and F. H. Mollraith, 592 acres, Southbridgf. The Selwyn Plantation Board notified the Council thti it had a supply of trees for this season's planting. It was decided to apnly to the Forestry Department for export advice as to the planting of an area of five acres or more- of the pines pit reserve. The Hon. Sir Francis Bel! wrote setting forth proposals that a national memorial should be erected to the memory of the late Prime Minister and asking for the Council's sunnort. The Council approved of the scheme as outlined, and left further details in the hands of the chairman. The Town Clerk. Christchurch, wrote cnauiring whether tho Council approved of tho resolutions carried at the Tecent conference of local body representatives held in Christchurch in connexion with the licensing .of heavy vehicles and the distribution of the license fees. The Council approved of the resolutions. It was decided to issue notices under tho Public Works Act to certain property owners to clear gors-'o from their frontages. The Bunanga Borough Council no'icited tho Council's support for a proposal that pensions should be provided by the Government for infantile pmalvsia victims. Pensions had. been given to dependents of neople who died during the 1918 inPuenaa epidemic Itwas pointed out that wuTie tho carried off the breadwinners in moist cases, the paralysis was mostly claiming dependents. The pay-sheet amounted to £662 19s 6d. There would be a debit balance of £596 4s lid after these accounts were paid. It was decided to hold a special meeting on June 15th to consider the estimates for the current year. The chairman of the Main Highways District Council |No. 14, enclosed a copy of tho proposed allocation of the cost of the proposed bridge over the Selwyn River in line with the Main South road, to be borne by the local bodies interested. The amount sot against Ellesmore was £1250, which tho Council approved of. Cr. Free contended that if outside bodies were to be asked to contribute, Ashburton County should not bo left out entirely. Ashburton had been pushing for a long time to get the bridge, yet they were not asked to contribute anything. Ho thought that the setting up of a Highways Board and District Councils was going to result in work costing a good deal more than if the County Councils did .the work themselves. A letter was received from the Hon. Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, who was asked to assist in securing a direct telephone circuit between Leeston and Dunsandel, forwarding the Postmaster-General's reply to the request, which stated that the business did not wan-ant the erection of a direct line. The chairman suggested that tho Council should write to the District Telegraph Engineer, pointing out that the desire for 4mp|roved t«<eph;oru.c communication W< tween Leeston and Dunsandel was still very strong, and asking what progress whs being made with the promised improvement of the line from Leeston to Christchurch and Christchurch to Dunsandel. The engineer claimed that the replacing .of the present iron wires with copper would result in a. satisfactory service via Christchurch, but he thought that it would be found that the direct circuit wou'd still be needed. • It was decided to await a reply to a, further letter sent to the Department bo-' fore writing again. The clerk reported having replied to an applicant for a hut site at tho Rakaia mouth that no sites were available, Mr W. J. Palmer asked to be allowed the- use of a piece of land • alongside his hut site, upon which: to erect a garage. The Counoil -could not see its way to allow any hut owner to have more than one section. Mr C. P. Agar requested that steps should be taken to ha,ve a gate on tho road leading to Rakaia huts removed. The clerk said he had replied setting out the. procedure necessary in auch cases. Mr H. M. Ha/ complained that his land was being flooded through an obstruction in Irwell Creek, causing an overflow. Tho riding members; were deputed to make an inspection. ' Mr A. E. Duffull, Lakeside, reported that Hart's Creek was overflowing and flooding his land. The Council pTpmisod to examine the creek and find what relief could be given. Applications for drain cleaning at Brookaide from Messrs J. Heslop and T. W. Brooks were granted. The offers of Mrs Dawson and' Mr L. B. Coe to clean drains on half shares were also agreed' to. Tenders for drain cleaning were accepted as follows :—Lambie's drain, A. Murphy, at 2s 6d per chain; Winchester's drain, C. Johnson, at 3s per chain; Derrett'a drain, A. Murphy, at 2s 9d per cahin. At the annual meeting, Cr. J. Cunningham was re-elected chairman. Cr. Cunningham thanked the members for their renewed confidence v[n him, and asked for their continued co-op'eration during the coming year. Tho setting up of tho Main Highways Board during the nast year and tho appointment of distriot councils had been a forward step. During the ensuing year, the Main Highways Act would come more fully into force, and he thought the Council should make provision in this year's estimates for work on main highways. It had not been "ascertained so far whether ehinsle for road maintenance purposes would be procurable from Birdling's Flat. The building of a traffic bridge over the Selwyn River in line with the Main South road was of. importance to tho Council, which was the principal local body concerned. A loan proposal for obtaining money to build new offices had been defeated by a small margin, but he thought the chances of a successful poll were better. this year if the Council decided to present fresh proposals. The condition of the county roads and bridges compared favourably with thoße in other, counties.