SMALL BUT PROGRESSIVE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 212, 1 June 1908, Page 6

SMALL BUT PROGRESSIVE.

THE BOROUGH OF EASTBOURNE.

TWO YEARS'.WORK.

STOPPING THE SAND DRIFT. The history of local government in this district is full of changes. Boundaries are moved or obliterated, now boards and councils are created, and old ones extinguished. Eastbourne and Makara spring into' corporate existence, and the pomp of the Melrose Borough Council is* one with Nineveh and Tyre. . .. ' . ' Tho Hutt. County loses one piece of terri-' tory after another, and the City of Wellington- repeatedly extends its boundaries.. Boroughs and town districts' are . made arid unmade along the border lilies. ' These changes, being the logical result of tho' growth of population, are ' severally demanded by almost all the residents, and facilitated by a, Legislature which only desires to be assured that all is in order. Tho step once taken, .it is never retraced, for experience is pretty': sure to show that it was worth while._ Suchj at any. rate, baa been the case with the formation of the Borough of Eastbourne'. 1 Grievances of the Past. The residents of the; little li'amlets of Rona Bay and Muritai/ which lie scattered along tile narrow ilats between the ranges arid the harbour on its western ' side, used' to complain that the Hutt County Conncil would not do anything for them.' ' Their one main road hardly deserved the name; they could, only reach the city iby. way of the wharf at Day's Bay ; they had to trudge iri darkness to their homes' on winter nights through bogs and,pools; and every dry nor'wester saw the drifting sandhills iriovo , onwards to bury some.of their pleasantest places. . So the people formed a Ratepayers' Association, _ and agitated. They thought, that _sbmething like' a road board, with' some of powers of t a town district arid, a borough council, would suit their : but Parlißinent, aghast at the of. creating sucli an exceptional body,- solved the ptob- ; lGin by making a borough^. noirntHstandirig the clause in the ■ Municipal Corporations. Act, which says that' every .new municipality must.have at least one thousand inhabitants. The Borough of Eastbourne began its career on April. I,' 1906, ;but so' far it has happily belied the rather, inauspicious promise of it« birthday. . j ' Notable Improvements. two iyea'rs a transformation.! has been' effected. ~ The main. ,road, /which runs . through the borough from end to' end/arid continues northwards to the'' Hnt't Valley, and iri the other direction to Gollaiis Vaj-;. ley, has bfieri formed, graded, arid- metalled.'' 'All resemblance to. a switchback', has been eliminated, and it is.nov,* a practically level highway of good width arid formation. An 'eight-foot path along one side, with concrete kerbirig, is almost completed from boundary to bouridary. Four concrete' culverts, not yet all completed, will carry off the great volumes 'of : storm water which rush down from the Hills, and which used, to flood .the road and' adjoining sections in; s6me places. The first of the series to. be I finished, empties into the' sea a. little to the : north of Rona Bay .wharf. It cost'£3oo. A good deal of forming arid'metalling 1 has also been done in the side, streets opened up' by . the .landowners arid .dedicated to 1 the Council. . . '.' , These things, iriay bq' seen .withiri a few minutes of stGppirig off tho ferry ■steamer, which is to Eastbourne what the electric tram; is to other suburban boroughs. They .were pointed out' to. a Dominion reporter last Saturday afternoon by Mr. F.' G. Bolton, the Mayor" of.. Eastbourne, arid ..the .oiily Mayor has'.evef had.. The' wharf, which is . tho .main entfarie'e to the township, is also an affair of the, last two. years, arid though it was erected by .the I 'Harbour- Board, the. Borough did,'most'of 'ttie -agitating; arid the residents helped by payirig'.for a piece ,of adjacent land, which was. handed over to' the . Boitrd. :{ '' ' For tho Future. . ' .Continuing their walk; southwards, the .Mayor arid, tho Pressman reached a certain corner section, which is at present' riot iriuch to look at, but which is destined to be the site of, the Council Chambers; It has a .froritago.'of 99ft;. to. the main, road .arid 133 ft. to • Makaro Road. The Council bought /it for £325, and the bargain appears to have been' 'a good one, for a section v 'or similar area lying' behind it was sold shortly before for £000. Nobody expects that the land will over be any cheaper, and tho Councillors think' th'al£\theiV successors., soirie day will; commorid thoir foresight.'. \ ' ■ A little frirth'er on a halt was made in th'e midst of a rushy, flat edged with sand hillocks—the recreation! groundof . tho future. : ..The ■ land, - which .is 4J acres in extent,; was set 1 apart by its then owriers: as a reserve soine; year's-ago; and the Council; has taken.-it" under, tho.'Public . Works Act. Already,applicatioris KavO been received from sports bodies , desiring' to use 'ifc; Another provision 'for the future is.the Dqrnairi or Forest.. Reserve, acquired by' arrangement with the tloVerrimerit arid, the Governors of Wellington College. . It' is 550 acres in ex- 1 .tent, and is mostly on the hills, but includes •a pretty beach. . The ; cost to'..;the . borough was only £170. It may .be thq;:s6ufc'e of, a future waterrsupply.... The borough has also acquired certain nghts/oven' the beach. , ' A sanitary service was instituted last year,' and street lamps haveibeen ere'fctOd. ' • Sand Drift;; J 1 "'But ; the. most .notable work' yet accomplished by' the Eastbourne Borough .Council, is' the stopping of the sana arift at Muritai. A few years this .troublb. became; :acute.. Sfevetal sections : were coverdd with sand,, and .it constantly, blew iri from .the' beach' until a. riiound- ten or .itwelve, feet high lay across . - the iiiain road. One 'cottage Seemed iii danger of being buried, and'its owner had it raised oil higher piles; When the Sand Drift Act was passed, tlie Eastbourne Borough Council was the first local body to take advantage of it. Operations- were begun about .■eightecn\month's ago, when twenty acres'of. sand-covered'land was''fenced to keep out ciittle' arid children. Somo.. levelling was done, brushwood fences , were built in ; th« liollsw. to break the wind, arid marram gras; was planted. To do this £450 was raised b; a special rate under the Act, differentiate* according to the arhount of benefit which Vai . expected; to bo conferred .on the several pro • po'rty owners. - Mr.'Boltori considers .that tin. work has been entirely successful, and that the sections which were so lately a mass ol /moving sand will some day he blindfed with • clay from the hills and built upon.Economical Management. r :■ Tho borough borrowed last year £4500 tfl pay,- iri part, for some of the improvements mentioned in this article, tho balance of the'.-, cost coming out of revenue. All the: work on. the roads is being done by day labour; 'and the cost as a.whole has so far worked at less tlmn the estimates, ( . .. Apropos of economical expenditure, it maj also bo mentioned that the actual expanse foi"' office administration was £75 per annum, aiid tho actual cost , last year ' of .advertising , printing,, stationery, and. postage ■ altogethei was just under £50; , In all probability tin rate to be levied for tho ensuing year would bo the same as last year, namely, ljd. in the : £ on tho unimproved value (as : a genera. l rate), and 3-16 cl. in the £ on ■ t.he_ capita; value as hospital and charitable aid rate. It is. also anticipated that the loan moiioy raised during last year would .bo almost suffi- - ciont to carry out all the proposed works. Tho by-laws of the borough wore pnp.iivd by tho, Council under the, advice (if t!i< . Mayor, without any legal expenses' bui'ri: illcurred whatever, and tfce cnl.v cxp'i: ii;ur( was for.the necessary advertising an.i • ing. Ah^' additional by-jaws, since 'prep.*: have bee's, dealt w-ith in the same ecimni::A:>J way. \ , The population of. Eastltourne Varira; eoii- . siderably with tho seasons, as.Rona Bav nut' Muritai arc two of the most popular 'seiisiik..' resorts,.but the permanently rMidwt pbpulv tion has shown a'marked increase sinorvt-ht' Borough' Council began its carecr. of usefulrioss. ■ : :