THE HUTT VALLEY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 142, 13 December 1923, Page 13

THE HUTT VALLEY

TAITA-BELMONT BRIDGE,

There was a good attendance at the monthly meeting of the Taita District Ratepayers' and Progressive Association, Mr. Futter being in the chair. Mr. G. T. NatuscE, president of the Belmont Progressive Association, and several members of that body were present by invitation. The chairman outlined steps that had been taken in connection with the proposed bridge over the Hutt River, after which he called upon Mr. Foley to give details as to cost, rating, etc.

Mr. Foley displayed a copy of the plan which had been prepared, and stated that the total estimated cost was £22,000. This amount allowed for an overhead bridge 18ft wide, with sufficient span to allow of the railway line being duplicated. The piles of the bridge would be of hardwood with ferro-concrete decking. The fact that it was not the policy of the Railway Department to allow any more level crossings had meant an increase of £4500 on the originaj estimates, a great amount of filling necessary in order to provide the approach from the river bed to the overhead railway bridge. The rating area proposed was bounded by King's along the skyline by Haywards and Belmont to Normandale, and the boundaries of the Hutt Borough. The capital value of this area was £617,000, necessitating a rate of one and one-hundredth of a penny in the pound. This was based on a loan of £14,000, as a subsidy of £1 for £2 had been promised. The proposed bridge would be in a line from Cattle's lane to just north of Belmont.

A lengthy discussion ensued, and it was emphasised that the railway would still be on the wrong side of the river, and that the residents in Nainai would .require a bus service to convey them to 'and from the railway station. While it was admitted that closer settlement must inevitably come in the Hutt Valley, it was said there were many vacant spaces in Lower Hut which should be first filled up. A public meeting will probably be called shortly to discuss the subject further.