NEW COUNCILS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19623, 20 May 1929, Page 6

NEW COUNCILS.

INSPECTION OF BOROUGHS. | RICCARTOX. J i ■To ascertain the exact nature of the j house they mast keep in order until I tie «xt election, the new Biccarton | Borough Council conducted an inspec- 1 tion of the borough on Saturday after- ; noon, starting from their own headquar- j tew the Council Chambers at-i yard. , There was a full muster of councillors, j headed by the Mayor (Mr H. S. S. j Kyne, M.P.). The town c!erk > (Mr j Barjeant) accompanied the party). A cursory inspection was made of the j stock in the yard, including the road j roller and the truck, which were valued ! at a guess, at £9OO. The room in the buildings set apart for a librarv was examined, and i. was pointed "out that in the event of a function or entertainment in the main hall, where a price was charged for admission, considerable inconvenience would arise through people wishing to enter the library, which was accessible onlv through the front door. The remedy suggested was another door through the back of the building. The Council then departed on its tour in motorcars, stopping first at Blair's corner, where it is proposed to push the channel back to the line_or poles, thus widening the road. ine difficulty here is a shortage of funds, only £Bl being available so far, whereas the sum required is between £3OO and £.400. A suggestion that tne money might have to come out of revenue was not looked upon with general favour.

The Foster street sub-station ree«ived a visit, and a stop was also mad© at the Clarence road railway crossing. A letter had been received from the Railway Department offering to put a proper crossing signal here if the Council will close the crossing on the deviation, but the Council has feelings on this point. Many years ago the Department intended to block this crossing altogether by putting a signal-box in the middle of it, and it was only after a hard fight that they agreed to rescind their decision. Unfavourable remarks were made on the ■warning bell, which was not considered nearly loud enough. A visit to the Walsall street pit disclosed that the Council had at least oae property that was not by any means a beauty spot—and yet at one time it was proposed to make this a Tecreation ground, the scheme falling through for lack of support. Now, however, it looks like au old battlefield, with the fence partly paled and partly not. "It was a godsend in the first ten years of the borough," said one councillor, "but bow it has outlived its usefulness."

"Why not fill it up and sell it?" was a suggestion. After inspecting the Wood's mill substation the party proceeded to Lowe street, where it was observed that the. Bailway Department were building a new iron . fence further in from the road, leaving a space between that fence and the old hedge, which consists mainly of gaps. It remains to be seen* who will level the space between the two fences,and pull the old one down—the Departmjent or the Borough Council. Page's subdivision ~ was inspected. This is one- of the Council's big jobs. The property used to belong to Mr John Brown, the second Mayor of the borough. Prom there—the party to Kanri street and stopped oatsfdethe Biccarton Bash entrance, where the Publie Trustee desires the Council to

lay a small' storm-water drain across the footpath. Cr. J. Wood intimated that the Council would shortly get notice to quit the site at the corner of Wairiuiand Eiccarton roads, which was at present used as a tank yard r as the Metropolitan Trotting Club, .which - owned the land, intended to subdivide it, and did not want that part of the section used as a yard. They would, however, offer part of the section on the opposite corner for that purpose.

The Euston street entrance to the proposed recreation reserve subdivision was inspected. This land belongs to the Metropolitan Trotting Club, which has to hand ove* fou# acres for a recreation ground, and the Council is pondering the question of buying an additional four acres ,to make the ground a respectable size. An alternative offer is a piece of the same land fronting Matipo street, very close to the Whareuui School, and this is thought to be a more suitable site for* that reason. This concluded the tour and the councillors returned to the Chambers and dispersed.

NEW BRIGHTON. The borough of New Brighton is one of fairly large extent, running as it does from Beach road on the far north of New Brighton, along the foreshore to the Spit or Naval Reserve immediately opposite to Sumner, thus giving a' very long sea frontage of several miles, while in depth the borough has for its boundary on the western side the river Avon. As the whole of the foreshore is now vested in the borough this presents added care and coat in attention and upkeep. Though New Brighton is rich in reserves in the matter of area they carry no endowment, and they are practically non-revenue producing. In the aggregate of milei age of roadways the borough has far more than the average to attend to in j regard to maintenance. In accordance with custom the Mayor (Mr .1. H. Shaw) and Deputy-Mayor fX>. F. D. Mnirson), and members of the Borough Council, accompanied by thhe town clerk (Mr Mi&dleton) and the borough foreman (Mr J. Wilson), setting ont on Saturday in a number of cars, made a most complete and exhauseive inspection of the whole of the borough. Passing along the Esplanade, where a short halt was made, the party came to the conclusion that the levelling of the sand dunes would be a move in the direction of progress, providing, as it would, a better view of the sea for residents along the foreshore, and permitting motorists to have the same privilege. The question of constructing a new parking place at Beach road for the convenience of motorists was fully discussed, and the idea favoured, as was the suggestion that the Esplanade at North Beach should "be widened. While inspecting the reserves at North Brighton the draining' and channelling of Jubilee avenue and Jutland street came under consideration. Coming away from this part the Mayor and councillors met a deputation of North Brighton residents, who advanced many > claims respecting the improvements that they claimed were essentia! for the interests of North Brighton, and in> the particular part in which they resided. The deputation was given a most atteitive hearing, and was thanfced by the Mayor for having placed it* several grievances before the Council, and wa« assured that every consideration and attention would be given to the requests. Coming along down Park road to the Rawhiti Domain a short stay was made while an inspection took place of the

' yoone plantations of fire, maeroeaxpa, [ and other young trees, and thence on to the new band-room of the Municipal I Baud, which has been erected practie- ! ally voluntarily by the members of I the band. ■ [ A move was then made for South New Brighton, halting first at the cor- j | ner of Bridge street and the Esplanade. I j where an inspection was made of the j i P ropo3ed site for the pavilion, etc., that j I is to be erected by the members of j the recently-formed South Brighton i Surf Bathing and Life Saving Clnb. In i response to the request from the South ! Brighton Progress League the Esplan- ' ade Reserve, lying between Victoria 1 and Beattv streets, was next viewed, i with the idea of either now or at some ' future date formiug in some measure j this part of the Esplanade, so that residents along this part of the sea-front < may be provided with means of access jto their respective properties. The j question of more street lighting being I provided in the southern portion of the borough was considered, and several j positions regarded as suitable for the purpose were inspected. In their I visit to South Brighton re- ! serves, and incidentally Pleasant Point j Domain, the planting of additional trees i to fill up open spaces and replace old 1 trees with young ones took up a con- | siderable amount of the inspecting I party's time, and while engaged in this | particular part of the afternoon's tour j thought was given to the providing of | work for the borough unemployed. The proposed sites in the reserve for j the South Brighton tennis courts and | greens for the South Brighton Croquet | Clnb were viewed, after which after- ' noon tea was served by Mrs Ainsworth,

SUMNER. The second afternoon of the Sumner borough inspection was devoted to the Redeliffs district. Promptly at 2 o'clock cars containing the aiayor lilr W. H. Nicholson), Councillors *'. C. Cooper, A. Molden, iL W. Harris, E. F. sandford, C. iDunham, D. Y. Oldndge, J. £. Tait, and F. H. R. Neville left the Council Chambers and proceeded to Shag Rock corner, where further contemplated improvements were pointed out by the thorough Engineer (Mr G. E. Harper). Near the tram loop it is proposed to widen the road by taking in a portion of "no man's land" which now exists between the road and the loop. The pumping station nearby was then visited, and here it was explained that by means of the automatic electric pump it is possible to lift 10,500 gallons per hour to the upper reservoir as against 6000 gallons by the old method. The transformer eta"tion beneath the hill was visited, and the proposed improvements to the electrical supply were explained by the Electrical Engineer (Mr A. A. Cheshire). A move was next made to the foot of the Monck's Spnr road, where the improvements to this dangerous corner to be carried out by the Defence Department were explained by the Mayor. It is proposed to cut off this corner and to improve the exit from the rifle range, which is at present on to the Spur road at an extremely awkward angle. It is also proposed to remove the .telephone box and the water trough, which in their present positions make rather a difficult approach to the road from the to»n side.

The old pumping station on- Estuary road was next inspected, where four of tbe nine wells are at present in nee. Mr Cheshire explained that it was pro-posed-to increase tbe Shag Rock .supply to 25,000 gallons per hour by using the other nve wells and pumping direct to the Shag Rock reservoir. Brief halts were then made at the septic tank on the old reservoir site and at a low-lying area near Ceha street, where a good deal of filling is being done. . " The working of the main pumping station at "The Cutting" was observed, and at the main transformer station nearby an ingenious instrument which draws a quarter-hourly graph of the current received from the power lines was interestedly watched. Attention was then given to a deputation, which met the councillors on Monck's Spur road. The urgent .need of an improved footway was pointed out. The Mayor explained how the position could best be met. and he and the other councillors were thanked for their attention to the matter. An adjournment was made to tbe residence of Cr A. Holden where afternoon tea was dispensed by Mrs Holden. The Council's pumping station at Woolston was next inspected. It was observed that with a proper j bank to protect this area from the rising tides an excellent sports ground could be procured. The engineer explained the working of this station. He said that there were one six-inch and three three-inch wells supplying 8000 gallons to the reservoir at "The Cutting." His explanation of the working of this station was closely followed by the party, who were agreed that very few boroughs of, the size of Sunnier were ps well served with water. On the return to Sumner a halt was again made at Celia street, where general discussion'regarding the proposed improvements occurred. It was decided to visit certain other portions of the borough at a later date. The return to Sumner was then made and the Mayor expressed indebtedness to Councillors Cooper. Tait, Holden, and Mr Cheshire for the uae of their cars