DEPARTMENT OF ROADS AND COUNTY COUNCILS. TO THE EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 40, 17 February 1908, Page 3

DEPARTMENT OF ROADS AND COUNTY COUNCILS. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir;— A poritioi of affa-irs- has arisen, between tho newly canetiUited Department of Rqadf=, and the Q lHingtraod County Loun cjl, which chows that it; beho\e3 County Councils throughout the Dominion to look to^ it" that the functions and power*, for the of which 'ih'ey have beet constituted,. ; hall not be usurped by (hi Departmen* referred to. -This being 1 matter of witiefpread interest, I icnturb to afk you to gne the facts publicity. , A. portion of the main road m Collingw.opd County, between Colljngwood and the neighbouring county and town of. Takaka, remains unfinished, and the Colhngwoo'd Council, after mature deliberation, has derided upon a certain routo n» r/resonHng the fewest natural difficulties, both for construction, and maintenance ; has obtained the consent of the landholders affected, («a\c one, referred to later) ; has obtained from Parliament a grant in «^id of the construction : and was expepting: that . the road- would bo completed this summer. At th« 6 etage, however, the department fent a surveyor to survey and report upon an alternatnp route, Efronsly ad\oeated by the one dissentient landholder referred to 'above. The surveyor came and went without giving any nolire lo ,fho council, but it lpiketf out that, presumably on his recommendation, what I may, perhaps, call, "the department's line," was to bo gone on with at once. A request was then forwarded by the council to the doj-artmonf for a copy of its turvcyor's report, aud it it significant that a representative of the council, on inquiring of the member foi the electorate, who had bpen a^ked to forward "thu council's request, was given to understand that that report would r.isvct be scon by the council. "On hearing tbat the surveyor had been working on the altrrnativp loute, the council, a; a body, made final insppetion, the result bp,ing 'that 3 resolution' was unanimously passed, protecting agaimt the formation of "'tho, department p hnr," and giving reasons* why' "the -our-xil's line' 1 thould be prp(err°d. This resolution wa& at oncp forwarded to the Minislpr in charger of the Department of Roads. Application was subsequently mado for authoriiy to expend rhp, grant which had been placed on the Estimates, .but tins was met by an intimation that the Department Avaa about to do the work itself. Receipt of tho resolution of counciL above" referred to was sleq acknowledged, with the further infermation that enquiry would be made as to the respective routes for formation of the road. Orje would hay« supposed that, this meant a.n, enquiry beforo the work protested against by the couucil was undertaken, and that even if the council was not Hoard at -such' enquiry the result would ba_ communicated to it. But so far from this was the -ase, that before the' promise of qn enquiry camo before the council at it? regular inciting, "the department's line'" was in full twin? of construction by rt considerable number of men. On finding that this was so. the council at oner telegraphed lo ths Minister in charge of tho Department, again asking for the fctirveyor's report, and requpfting that tho council might., be joined in any enquiry made, before The work objected' to should he tairied further. K\en tho receipt of this telegram has not been acknowledged Principal among the reasons for pi of or nice by the council of the route advocated by it. is fhe fact that the cojt of formation, and, to an even gteater degree, that 1 oi iub&equent maiiitenance, of "the de-

partment's line," are certain to be much hea\ier than tho cost 11 of tho line advocated by the council, 'because 'the former traverfos, for a great part of its length, a t-teep— almo*t prpeiptous — hillside, whore the bedrock is of a nature peculiarly liable to landslips, which, in wet, weather, are sure to ba numerous' and heavy. Also, moft of this long cutting is rendered necessary by the crowing of a hill which need not ho crossed, and the cu>fiiiK itself will lie moie or los dangerous for vehicles on account of its curves and tho deep gully, the top of which it rkirtf. JCono of thpfif disadvantage? exift on "tho council's line," though thp latler, from the point where the liact diverge to that whern thpy meet ganin, is rather longer than '"Hip department's lino"' ; but moro than tho difference in length is already formed"" and gravelled on *'tho council's line," and therefore Kamild not bo taken into account, in comparing the two. With reference tc the one objectot <o tho construction of the last-named line, it may he well tc say that the land in thp locality i-, alinoft -worthless in itself, but "fho department's line" rmF c es entirely through thp objector's hind, while it is stated that the council's only encroaches to the patent of about half its width, on a, sharp corner of hib property The question whether thiF is co or, not, is ttill, or at ths time of writing was , fub judice, 'in an action between tho council and the objector. Finally, the member (or the constituency of which Collingwood is a part, who had bepn asked to forward the council's views at headquarters, interviewed recently by the county chairman, faid that if the .tour.cil pressed the matter (which it, has certainly done as far j as it know.* how), the Department might cftop comtruf'tion of tho hue of road protested against, but that, in, that ca*e there wns very little prosppcr of the council obtaining authority to expend thp grant made by Parliament last s-efsion for- "TakekaCollingwood inland road." I think you will aajrpp, fir, that fhouid tho Department of Koadfi, input on proceedinz with the road' it has had beguu, apart from the slur cast upon tho County Council, ] a jrreat injustice wjlj, be inflicted on ratepayer?, who will bn, eaddled with tho unnecessarily heavy to c t, both present and prospective, of a work thrust upon them againtt the judgment of their own representative": in the council : that. if. on th« other hand, the court-e indicated Ri provable by thp member for tbo electorate^ is purfued, and the council "blacklisted," suoh action will perilously resemble tbe worst niPthods of American municipal politic?. Lastly, dop.i it not feem i-trango if the department's reasons for pressing the construction of the linp of road desired solely by one individual are pvtch ns ought to infliiepcp a Department of tho Public Service, tha»"those reasons have fo soduloufly bppn withheld fr^m the County Council intfrPFted? Tni'ting that jnu will be able to afford ppace for this rirc n .«irilv rathor lonß letter, in which ca«o I am purp yon will have earned tho thanks of many besides the writer. — I am, etc., RATEPAYER Colliiißwood. 11th February, 1908. [Und^r dato 14th inst , "Ratepaypr"' fpleffraphb from Collingwood :—' ( lf publishing letter plpa«c arid postoript stating =ince letter pn^tpd Pepartnien^ roplie? to couucil'p la^r pommunication declining reque«U ]