AUTHORITY FOR BIG FOOTPATH SEALING PLAN

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 September 1947, Page 4

AUTHORITY FOR BIG FOOTPATH SEALING PLAN

[SPECIAL REPORTER]

, . The. Inangahua County Council has received authority for the sealing of'the footpath-from the Reefton Rost Office to the railway crossing on Bullpr rpad, a distance of approximately, one mile. The work,’which is estimated to cost £953, will be.commenced at; an. early, date. ... VAt -yesterday’s - ' meeting of the council a letter was. received from the Public .Works Department stating that it had received advice from the Main Highways Board that the council’s proposal. to seal the footpath had been approved and that the work could now be carried out by the council’s staff, provided that the estimate of- £953 (£1 for £1 subsidy) .was’adhered to. The depart-: ment added that any filling and preparatory work should be carried out as soon as possible and the actual sealing Reft until January or February. . . Later in the meeting, the question of obtaining ,the necessary crushed m'etai for the footpath was discussed, and after the foreman, Mr N. L. BoJitho, had reported that he was unable to get sufficient men to operate the council’s crusher, it was decided to. call tenders for the crushing of the rnetal/Avtih the use of the council’s, plant; ' An application, was received from Mr S. C. Griggs to ;hire the council’s -crusher. He stated that he intended to /erect'., a. metal brushing plant and had already , obtained a large crusher. He would b'e : f prepared to supply metal to the council at a price to be fixed. ■ / ■' It was decided to . advise that the council could not see its way clear to lesae its crushing plant, several members pointing out that there was a possibility of heavy depreciation., . Repairs to Bridges The foreman reported that only one quotation, that of Messrs Bierworth and Bailey, had been received for repairs to the bridges on Brown Creek road, as 'follow:—Harvey’s bridge, £45 15s; Rough creek bridge, £152 6s; and Brown creek bridge, £l5l 12s 6d. A.fter some discussion it was left to the foreman to make arrangements with the tenderers to have the work carried out.

Following a report from the foreman, it was decided to apply to the Mines Department for a grant of £ 100 to put the Prohibition track at Waiuta in order.

The Public Works Department wrote inquiring whether the council would consent to the new Coal creek bridge (Inangahua Landing) being built as a suspension type, instead of a concrete pier type. It was decided to approve of a suspension, type bridge, after several councillors had pointed out that there had already been a long delay and it would probably be many years before a concrete bridge could be expected. Cr F. W. Archer said that a wrong impression had got round that the council was no longer interested in a fire alarm system for Reefton. The first scheme had been too elaborate and too expensive but information was still being obtained on cheaper schemes, such as that in use at Richmond (Nelson), which he had recently inspected. The chairman (Cr J, J. Coghlan) said that work was needed on the access, road to the Waitahu Sluicing Syndicate’s claim and the matter was referred to the foreman for a report. Revision of Valuations

The Valuer-General (Mr F. Waters) advised that an endeavour was being made to revise the values of the whole of the Reefton riding by March 31 next. The revaluation of the remaining ridings would then ,be put in hand and should be completed by March 31, 1949. It was presumed, in the absence of advice to the contrary, that the council would be satisfied if the townships of Waiuta and Hukarere were revalued with the balance of Antonio’s riding. The Counties’ Association advised that permission had been obtained for Government servants to act as deputy returning officers for the forthcoming local body elections. Reporting on his visit to Wellington with the “Fill-the-Gap” deputation, Cr Archer said that the deputation had been well received by the Ministers. It had asked fop the completion of the line to Murchison in the meantime and, personally, he thought it was an excellent move. The Ministers had given an assurance that they would recommend to Cabinet the completion of the line to Murchison and an investigation of the remainder of the route to link up with the existing line.