MORE CITY WORKS

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 255, 27 July 1927, Page 10

MORE CITY WORKS

IMPROVING ROADS ALLOCATIONS EXCEED £13,000 CLASSIFICATION OF UNEMPLOYED The Mayor yesterday gave further particulars of the new works which were sanctioned by the City Council oil Monday night, and which are estimated to cost £7150. He said that the object of starting so many works was to enable as many men as possible to be taken on speedily. It is proposed' to widen the Ngaio road above the Government Reserve, near the powder magazine, a dangerous spot, and it is expected that a fair supply' of road metal will be obtainable at the place where the excavation is made. At present two buses can barely pass here. There are several sharp corners where the road is narrow between Brooklyn and Happy Valley, and by the expenditure of about £BOO the worst of these can be greatly improved. A sum of £2OOO is to be spent on the continuation of the beach road over the sandhills from Rongotai to Lyall Bay. This portion will be at a higher level than that already done, and will afford a view across the reserve and towards the sea. The deviation of Wadestbwn road, upon which it is proposed to expend £2OOO, is subject to the City Council as a body visiting the spot and inspecting the proposal outlined by the Mayor. The question of better access to Wilton’s Bush has been occupying the minds of the council for some time, especiallv from Northland, and the new work will have an increased advantage in the fact that it will open up further city property for"' development. , The Palliser Road improvement is in the direction of easing the dangerous cut-off from Shannon Street into Pal-, User Road, which is very narrow and has an almost impossible grade. Further improvements are contingent upon the continuation of Moeller Street, but as the acquisition of certain properties is involved it is not proposed at present to proceed with this portion of the scheme. The work just now will be confined to earthworks. The extension of the Pirie Street reserve does not involve any encroachment on*the existing reserve, which is largely used for junior hockey. This proposal was brought forward as the result of a request from the Victoria Croquet Club for an additional croquet ground. Theye is only one at present, and as other clubs have at least .two it was decided to comply with the request, especially as the club offered to contribute £5O to the cost, which is estimated at £3OO.

This new list of works, together with those previously sanctioned, involves a total allocation of £13,500 from the Mayor’s fund and Government subsidy. The classification of the unemployed, said the Mayor, was now being proceeded with by the special committee which was set up last week, and in cases which are considered to be specially urgent, the names should be given to the town clerk, who will forward them to the committee. It had been ascertained that numbers of unemployed had recently been dispensed with, but he urged employers to retain them as long as thev possibly could, or where it was impossible to do this, to shorten the hours instead of standing the men down. Up to the present the Mayor and combined staff of the city have contributed £lOO7 10s. 3d. to the fund aS follows: —The Mayor, £25 ; tramways and lighting department, £125.; city engineer’s, department, £397; milk department, £127 Bs.; Town Hall staff, £3O 95.; library department, £2 13s. 3d.