MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1852.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume VII, Issue 478, 27 January 1852, Page 3

MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1852.

The Worshipful the Mayor in the chair. Present Aldermen Dignan, O'Neill, Powditch, Mason, Councillors Newman, Abraham, Hay, M'Donald, Haultain, Taylor, and Norman. On the minutes of the last meeting being read, Councillor" Haultain wished to state, (if in order) his dissent from the Report of the Rural Roads Committee, before the minutes were confirmed. After some discussion, it was decided that as the Council had not adopted the report, it would be out of order for the worthy Councillor to protest. The minutes were then confirmed. The Acting Town Clerk read a letter from the Colonial Secretary in reply to the letter of the Council, stating that all communications must be made through the Town Clerk. The following is a copy of the letter : — Colonial Secretary's Ofiice, Auckland, 20th Jan., 1852. Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the Acting Town Clerk's letter -of the 14th inst., requesting that all communications upon Corporation matters might l)e addressed to him, and' I beg to inform you that the subject will be submitted for the consideration of his Excellency, immediately on his return to Auckland. I have the honour, &c., Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary. "The; Worshipful the Mayor. The Acting Town Clerk read a letter from -the Superintendent of Public Works, regpecting the Otahuhu road. Public Works Office, Jan. 22, 1852. Sir,-*- With* reference to the report of the Committee of the Corporation upon the sub- ; jeGt of, the Rural Roads, as reported in the 'New Zealander/ I have the honour to draw, attention to an error into which the Committee has been led. The Committee in that portion of the report which refers to 4he Otahuhu road, have the following passage — " if as Mr. Wood states, each mile cost ,£2OO" — upon reference to Capt. Haultain's Setter referred to me for answers to certain questions therein stated, it will be found, that my written reply to his question •"What has been.4he average cost per mile of the roads, &c?" — was, " The average cost of the Onehunga road has been £1456 per pailc^ o#the Tamaki road, £1010; and of the Otahuhu road, £200 per mile." I have given no other information than this, and Have no where stated the cost of each mile to be £200. My statement is the average cost per mile of thig road along its whole line from its commencement at the Ep3om road. J think thafcsnehan error "ajs'tfW^inio whichth§ Committee have fallen, may perhaps ; .!.► le^4 in estimating similar expenses for the future, and beg therefore to request that this explanation may be Isi4 before the Worsmpful the Mayor. J have, &c, Reader Wood. Councillor Haultain said, the letter contained one of his objections to the report. Acting Town Clerk read '^letter from the

Colonial Secretary respecting the levels in "the town, for the purposes of drainage. Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, Jan. 24, 1852. Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge .the receipt of the Acting Town Clerk's letter of the 14th inst., requesting that the Council might, be furnished with a plan shewing 1 the level of the several streets in the town ; in reply, I have to inform you that 24 plans of the levels alluded to are in the Survey Office, open for inspection, until copies are prepared for the Council ; should however, the Council require them for any temporary purpose, they can "be obtained on application to the Surveyor-General. I have the honour, &c., Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary. The Worshipful the Mayor. Alderman O'Neill as chairman of the sub-committee on Town and Suburban Roads, laid on the table the following report, which was ordered to be read. Report of Sub-Committee on Public Boads and Thoroughfares. The Committee commenced its sittings on the 10th day of December, 1851, to enquire into and report upon the present state of the roads and thoroughfares within the town and suburban Wards. Within the limits of the Town of Auckland there are streets and lanes to the number of sixty-six, making in the aggregate ! miles, none of which are formed or jmetalled, with the exception of 2^ mileij. 1 A communication from the Superintendent of Boads states, that the expense of ''construction of the town streets has averaged about £1,800 per mile, that the cost of breaking the scoria has been 3s. 4^d. per 'yard, and the only improvement the Governjment is at present engaged in is tho construction of a road from Princes-street to Official Bay. * ♦ Your Committee believing it to be impracticable at present to form and metal aH the and thoroughfares in the town, respectfully draw fhe attention of the Council to those parts which are in most meed of being improved. It is essential for the accommodation of the greater part of the town, that all streets abutting against Queen-street on the west side should be connected with* the said street, by means of Bridges, and formed and metalled as far as Hobson-street, particularly West Queen-street, Wyndhamstreet, and Durham-street, and that Viqtpjaastreet, (which the hard labour men' "are at present excavating,) be formed^and metalled as far as Freeman's Bay, so as to enable the numerous families who reside in that extensive neighbourhood to have easy access to the commercial part of the town, as well as to the several places of worship, police court, market-house, and post office. It is very desirable that Hobson-street be improved as soon as funds are available, by erecting a small Jetty, also, it ought to be formed and metalled, which could be done comparatively for a small amount of money, that it would thus open up a passable way not only to the principal streets in the town, but also give access to the metal quarry, the mill, the Manukau ranges, the Waho, and the Kaipara. That Chancery-street be produced through Allotments 39—40 of Section 4 to Queenstreet, and that High-street be produced through Allotment No. 32, Sec. 4, to Victo-ria-street, an improvement which, if effected, would add greatly to the comfort, health, and convenience of a considerable part of the town, by admitting a free current of air through those confined localities, affording facility to drainage, and a more direct line 1 of street to the Wesleyan and Independent Chapels, the Mechanics' Institute, CustomHouse, Post Office, and Police Barrack. That in Grey-street the Bridge andiits approaches be repaired and metalled, and 1 that Bank-street be excavated. Your Committee regrets not having received sufficient information from the Superintendent of Boads, but on referring to official documents and to other sources, the fol- ' lowing information has been gleaned, which it is hoped may be relied on as correct.

* Exclusive of the curb. Thus constructing roads in the town 31 ft, | 8 inch, in width would give the average exr 1 pense at £3266 per mile, though Mr. Reader Wood, in his official answer to queries, states the average expense to be £1800 per mile. In the above estimate, Shortland-street has been omitted, because it is obvious that £250, the amount mentioned for that street in the Official Return, is not a correct estimate.of the expense of cutting#jijd forming the whole of that road. The expense of the wooden curb in Princesstreet has been £88 10s. 7d., and allowing each side path to be fifteen feet wide, makes thirty feet, which is exactly one half the width of the street j and as it was formed and metalled by the same sort of labour, the expense of course would be one half oT 1G622, or £311, thus giving as the expense of the side paths £399 10s. 7d., and for \Princes-street altogether the enormous sum lof £1,021 10s 7d. for 850 links, or £9,6 ; 09 per mile, and that during the' months

of October, November, and December in 1848;, and January, February and March, in 1849) there was paid to the military for the trifling work which they did in the streets and' suburban roads, the sum of £548 19s. lOd. The west town ward has been culpablyneglected by the Government; the allotments which have been sold in this ward, brought into the Colonial Treasury about £34,000, and out of this prodigious amount of money, the Government has spent only about £50 in improvements; one half of the inhabitants of Auckland reside in this ward, and in consequence of the proposed line of streets being cut up in every direction by drays, they have to pay considerably more for firewood and building materials than the burgesses of the other wards of the town ; that in this ward the Roman Catholic Chapel has been built of scoria at an early period of the Colony, and at a great expense, and though- frequented by a large number of the Colonists, yet there has not been an approach to it formed or metalled during the past eleven years, thus leaving not a few of the settlers winter after winter to wade through the mud in the best way they can to their i place of worship. i The probable amount of mqney required for executing the really necessary works in Auckland would be, according to the lowest (not averaged) official estimated expense for the construction of town streets — To construct four bridges over the creek in Queen-street £400 " Form and metal Hobson-street as far as Ponsonby-road 1,000 I " Form & metal West Queen-st., 200 1 " do. " " Wyndham-street 250 " do. " " Durham-street.. 250 ,« dOr <c « Victoria & Drake I streets as far as Freeman's J Bay 500 j ," Repair bridge and -approaches to the same in Grey-street... 100 £2,700 i Within the boundaries of the suburban | wards there are about twenty-four miles of projected roads, none of which have been improved, unless the direct line of road from Mechanic's Bay to Hobson's- Bridge, and a part of the Kyber-pass-road, in all about two miles, your Committee are aware of the utter impossibility of the Town Council being in a position to construct all the projectedilines ..of roads, which would require a sum (according to Mr. Reader Wood's estimate of the Epsom road) of not less than £32,000, laid out in the first instance, together with an annual amount of £2,640, for keeping them in repair. Your Committee after collating all the information relating to the immediate wants of the suburban wards, have come to the conclusion that the following roads and improvements ought to receive your prompt attention. Your Committee considers that the road from the quarry to the south end of Hobsonstreet, should be formed and metalled as soon as possible, which when completed, will enable the Corporation to carry on all the public works in the town at a considerably less expense than if such road was not constructed. Your Committee would draw the attention of the Town Council to the necessity of constructing a bridge over the creek at Freeman's Bay, near Conway's brick yard, and to form and metal about one-fourth mile of road as an approach to the same on the south side. By making the bridge and piece of road in question, you will connect Victoria-street with all the western suburbs>g and thus enable the long neglected proprietors of land in that direction of the country to draw manure and fencing materials from Auckland for agricultural purposes, and give an impetus to farming operations by affording a direct and very near line of road to town. In this suburb there are about 1800 acres of land, 1600 acres of which have been sold for the sum of £6,063, and out of this amount of money the Government have not expended a single shilling in the ward, the effect of which has been to retard improvements to a very great extent, and oblige many to abandon the cultivating of their lands ; the truth of this has been deposed to by several respectable witnesses. Your Committee would suggest to tie Council the propriety of securing for the use of the borough, that large field of scoria, about 100 acres, situated in the suburban west ward, and bounded by the Kiapara road, the scoria creek, the Waitaimata, and the new mill stream; this scoria can be approached by boats of considerable tonnage, and so soon as the Kiapara road is opened up, it will be accessible to carts. Amount of money required for the repair of streets and roads, and the construction of new ones within the town and suburban wards. To constructing bridges and streets within the town wards, as before stated £2700 Keeping in repair 2^ miles of -town streets already constructed, at £120 per mile 280 To constructing roads from quarry to the south end of Hobson-street. . . 2184 To construct a bridge and \ mile of road in Freeman's Bay 650 To keep in repair the road from Mechanic's Bay to Hobson's Bridge 240 Total £6054 Alderman Mason handed in a memorandum of the duties of the Town Clerk, which had been drawn up "by the Committee appointed for tha* I ' purpose, and agreed to by Mr. Merriman'. Alderman Mason moved, and Alderman Dignan seconded, that Mr. Merriraan be ap-

pointed Town Clerk, at a salary of £100 per annum. After some discussion (during which Mr. Merriman said, if he was not regularly appointed Town Clerk at that time he should not appear there again in that capacity — he did not want the salary at present, but wished to be regularly appointed to that office) the motion was carried. A discussion of considerable length then took place on Councillor Abraham's motion, that the Sanitary Committee do continue their inquiries respecting the site of the proposed lunatic asylum. Alderman O'Neill moved that the further discussion of that subject be deferred to that day six months. Councillor Newman seconded the amendment in a speech of considerable length. After some further discussion the amendment was carried. Councillor Abraham renewed his notice of motion respecting the land fund. Tne Council then adjourned till further notice.

■ Name of Street. 1 SI -i CD a I 1! r2 S 3 I Wakefield anjd Symonds-sts. . links feet. ft. ft. £ £ 5000 75 17 180i Queen-street... 3405 60 18 200i PrincestStreet. . 850 90 60 60 622*1 6001