LOAN OF £l8,000 PROPOSED

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 70, 16 December 1937, Page 24

LOAN OF £l8,000 PROPOSED

Permanent Sealing Of County Roads

Dominion Special Service.

Pahnereton North, December 15.

Proposals for a loan of £lB,OOO to cover the council’s share of the cost of permanently sealing the Rongotea-Long-bpxjj highway and other highways in the county are to be placed before the ratepayers by the Manawatu County Council. This decision was unanimously reached by the council at its meeting yesterday, following the recent discussion of the proposals submitted by a section of the ratepayers.

The proposals are for the reconstruction and sealing of the following roads: (1) Rongotea-Longburn highway; (2) Rongotea-Rangiotu highway (Rongotea to Glen Oroua) ; (3) Kopane to Awahuri road ; (4) Frecklington’s Line (Bulls road to Campion’s Line). The last two roads are to be subject to being declared main highways and the £3 to £1 subsidy being available. Details of the roads to be dealt with were submitted by the county engineer as follows:—

Rongotea-Longburn highway. 7| miles; Highways Board share, £17,313; county share, £5771; total cost, £23,084. 140 ft. bridge: Highways Board share, £4500; county share, £750; contribution by Kairanga County Council, £750; total cost, £6OOO. Kopane-Awahuri road, 3i miles: Highways Board share, £7320: county share, £2440; total cost, £9760. Rongotea-Rangiotu road, 21 miles: Highways Board share, £7500; county share, £2500; total cost, £10,000.’ Ohakea road, 51 miles: Highways Board share, £12,600; county share, £4200; total cost, £16.800. The foregoing works represented an estijnated total cost of £65,644, for which the council Would require to find. £15,661. The subject was introduced by Cr. A. N. Morcom, who asked the council’s agreement to his proposition that the council place before the ratepayers a road-scaling loan proposal. The proposal, he said, concerned fully 75 per cent, of the ratepayers of the county and be felt that the ratepayers would support a loan when they knew that they would benefit by' the sealed roads. In his district the ratepayers at present did not enjoy the benefits of sealed highways until they passed over the boundary into another county. The council had had a petition from ratepayers asking for the sealing of the Longburn-Rongotea road and if those who signed the petition did not support the loan proposal then the council would know how to treat further petitions. He felt confident, however, that the proposals would be supported by the ratepayers.