HEATHCOTE ROAD
Widening May Cost £29,400 Road widening on Port Hills road at Heathcote is going to cost the Heathcote County Council £29,400,. but as railway houses take up half the stretch to be widened councillors feel that the Railways’ Department should be told how jnuch money will have to be spent on the project. The council decided at its meeting last evening to ask the Railways Department how it feels the cost can be met.
The council had considered a letter from the department saying the strip of road in front of the railway houses could not be dedicated until it had been surveyed. Unfortunately the department had no surveyor available at present, but it was willing to make the land available free of charge provided all costs were met by the council, the letter added. ' The county chairman (Mr R. A. Young) said: “This is a very troublesome matter. The sad story is that the Railways Department does not have a surveyor available.”
The department was willing to make the land available free of charge, he said. “It seems to me the council and the ratepayers are being asked to foot the bill—that is really unacceptable. “I was staggered by the magnitude of the work involved. The depaTtment should make a contribution to the work,” Mr Young said. He said had the land been owned by a private individual and not by the State he would have had to put the road into a proper condition. The department had established a settlement of nine houses and had left an area of flat land in front. , “This is a bit hard on the ratepayers and my immediate reaction is that the Crown should be ‘asked to bear some of the cost,” Mr Young- said. The county clerk (Mr R. W. Morris) said the sub-division was “only a paper subdivision” because the houses were not for sale. Cr. ,J. S. Scott said: “On a technical point they are putting the whole cost on to the council. Actually it 'is a subdivision—there’s no doubt about that.” The council decided to tell the Railways’ Department of the position.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19600402.2.162
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29170, 2 April 1960, Page 14
Word Count
356HEATHCOTE ROAD Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29170, 2 April 1960, Page 14
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.