RUNANGA BOROUGH COUNCIL

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 September 1945, Page 8

RUNANGA BOROUGH COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING. With no less than three deputations, the business 1 of the Runanga Borough Council meeting, last evening, was protracted. The Mayor (Mr. E. Kennedy) presided, and the following attended: Councillors S. Braithwaite, J.' Devine, R. Wrigl.it, G. Barrow and Tl. Nelson. Mr.' A. T. Campbell, senior tutor for the W.E.A., waited on the Council in regard to the establishment of a Community Centre. He said there was a heed throughout New Zealand for community centres. U was not a new thing: they had been successful in England for the past 15 years. Community centres developed a good social life and contact for the community. The experimental centre established at Redding in 19.38 was an outstanding success,' and phenomenal use was made of the facilities oilcred The Mayor thanked Mr. Campbell, and said he was sure all Councillors supported the idea of such a centre. Though the public would no doubt support such.a plan, it was very hard to get them to attend public meetings. He thought it would be a good step to write to the Minister asking him to consider. Runanga, when planning the establishment of community centres experimentally.' FIRE BRIGADE. Messrs. J. Almond (Superintendent) and D. Hildebrand (Secretary) of the Runanga Fire Brigade waned cn the Council regarding the upkeep of lhe station. A letter was read from the United Fire Brigades' Association, stating that before the Underwriters’ Association would agree to reduce fire premiums it would be ■necessary to supply the Underwriters with a statement of the existing fire protection facilities available. It was decided to supply this information.

Cr. Barrow suggested that a fresh attempt be made to form a Fire Board, which would ensure a stable income for the maintenance of the Brigade and the station. At present the Brigade was reduced to raising funds themselves to make ends meet, and the sooner that position was cleared up the better. ■ Mr. Hildebrand said the station was not yet complete; a septic tank and stairway had yet to be provided. The Brigade would like to get its affairs on a firm basis as far as its present debts and future maintenance were concerned. About £9OO was owing on the station, and when that was paid off the maintenance would not be great. The Mayor said the Council could assist, as in the past, with the supply of materials for completing the work. Mr Hildebrand said the Brigade had been informed that the Government intended to introduce legislation to provide for financial support from the Government and from the Underwriters to fire brigades, which would make the establishment of a local fire board unnecessary. However, nothing definite about this proposal could be' learned. They had approached the Government in regard to the debt on the station, and had received a sympathetic hearing, though no decision had yet been made. It was decided to approach the Minister' asking what steps were necessary to form a Fire Board. The Mayor assured the brigadesmen that the ..Council would do its part in maintaining the Brigade. The men had done their share, and the Council would not let them down. DUNOLLIE DRAINAGE.

Messrs G. English, P. Kilkelly,.R. Thomas and R. Archer, representing the Dunollie Householders’ Association, waited on the Council in regard to the drainage of Inverness Street. Mr. English said that the previous evening a meeting of the Association had been held at Dunollie, and the action of the Council in turning down the offer of a grant for the piping of the drain in Inverness Street had been severely criticised. Some months ago he had read in the Press report where the Council had decided to write to him regarding the drainage scheme, but he had received no letter and had written to .the Undersecretary of Mines asking what progress was being made. Mr. Benney replied that the Runanga Borough Council, on the grounds of shortage of labour, had declined the offer of a grant for the cost of materials. This was a breach of faith, for when the deputation first met the Council on the matter a promise had been given that the Council would find the labour. He pointed out that the offer had been made to his Association and not to the Council, who had been asked to find the labour for the work. If there was any difficulty in meetin" the conditions of the offer, then the Association, should have been informed. At this late date, the Association had been inforrped that the offer held good until the end of September only, so if it were not to be lost, swift action would have to be taken. When he had approached Mr. Benney some time ago regarding increasing the grant in order to pipe the whole length of the street, Mr. Benney said to get on with the first part of the job, and then the rest would be done. Cr. Barrow said that with the Mayor he had attended the meeting i of the Association held the previous evening. It was agreed then that the best thing was to get the job started immediately, in order to secure the grant, and he suggested that two Borough workmen be placed on the job. He had no doubt the residents in the locality would assist with the Cr.' Devine said when the deputation first met the Council with the scheme both the Council and the deputation were agreed that the grant, which provided for only a small section of Inverness Street, was inadequate, and it was left to the Association to approach Mr. Benney to have the grant increased to cover the whole street. Since then the Council had heard nothing until Mr. Benney wrote asking if the offer was to be accepted. It was then decided to reply that the offer could not be gone on with owing to shortage of labour, and Mr. English was to be advised. Apparently he had not been advised. Mr. English said his main regret was that when the Council turned down the offer two months ago, it failed to inform him, otherwise . he could have taken the matter up immediately. Now, things had to be rushed or the offer would be withdrawn. The Town Clerk accepted responsibility for not advising Mr. English, stating that a note to that effect had 'been mislaid. The Mayor said the only way to take advantage of the grant was to put two men on the job immediately and with the assistance of the residents, lay the pipes provided by the Department. A good deal of gravel would be required, and the residents could help a good deal by assisting with the loading. There had been I laxity on both sides, first the Association had not advised the Council that the Under-Secretary had agreed to finish the remainder of the street after the first section was completed, and then the Council had not notified tiie Association of its letter to the Under- Secretary. Mr. English said once the first section was completed, the Department would provide funds for the second section. On the motion of Crs. Barrow and Braithwaite, it was decided to make an immediate start with the work, and that the Under-Secretary for Mines and the local Surveyor be informed. GENERAL. One drainlayer’s license was granted. The Women’s Bowling Club ap-' plied for permission to erect a pavi-

lion at the north-east end of the) gymnasium section.—Held over for( inspection. An application for permission to instal a septic tank was referred to the Health Inspector. Mr. A. Taylor wrote regarding the serious flooding of his section, during recent heavy rain.—Referred to Foreman for attention. A letter was received enquiring if lhe stone crushing plant was’for sale. On the motion of the Mayor and Cr. Nelson it was decided not to sell the plant. (Cr. Devine voted against the motion). The Mayor said the only source of metal, was the beach, and it was often inaccessible. The motor had recently been . dried out and after a new set of jaws were fitted the machine was ready to operate. No metal had been put bn the roads for two years, and with their own plant the Council could put crushed metal on the streets cheaper than it could be bought elsewhere. The foreman reported that 29 loads of gravel and 45 of ashes had been carted. The intake chamber and sluice valves had been cleaned. Water supply had been connected to Hart’s property. Leaks in McGowan, Herd and Argyle Streets had been attended to. Bridges in Herd, Seddon and Carroll Streets had been repaired. A turnstile had been installed at the Domain. A blocked drain in Walker Street was attended to, and cleaning up work attended to in Dunollie cutting, near McPhee’s property, and near Hambloy’s, in Hall Jones Street. At present the frontages of Ward Street were being cleaned up.—The report was received as satisfactory. It was decided to make application to the Commissioner of Wages for permission to increase the wages of the outside staff by 11/8 per week. Necessary work to Scddon Terrace road brought forward by Cr. Braithwaite was referred to the foreman. Action is to be taken to have the tree tops interfering with power lines in McGowan Street topped.