BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Gisborne Times, 31 October 1928, Page 7

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

FORTNIGHTLY MEETING

The fortnightly--meeting of the Gisborne Borough Council was held last evening. The Mayor, Mr D. W. 'Coleman, presided and there were also present: Crs. J. Blair, G. B. Smith, J. W. Holmes, R. J. Ker,ridge, I<‘. Collin,. W. J. Mac Gibbon, W. Cave, and T. Todd.

The notiijeation to drain the property of the late E. M, Knibbs’ estate was replied tp by tire Public Trustee, who explained -that owing to lack of ;funds in the estate it was impossible to have the. improvements carried! out. He, therefore, appin. for tlie. demand for drainage of the land to be deferred.—lt was decided that the matter should stand over. An application was- received from Mr P. Sun for tlie erection of a seat under his Verandah for the convenience of women and children waiting for buses.—On the motion of the Mayor it was decided that the request be granted. Advice of the removal of petrol pump heads and replacement with others at bowsers in front of the promises of Russell and Sandlaut and Collett Motors was received from the Vacuum Oil Company.—The * letter was received. A. letter was received from the Railways Department in roforence to the Council’s private siding at "Repongaere quarry, the Department stating that certain repairs to the permanent way, carried out by the Council, were hot satisfactory, the curves being from lin. to ll,in slack and tlie level crossing over th«. Ny:;>tapa road haying some holes which required filling up. A request wa made that these points be attended to, immediately.—The matter was. referred to the engineer. A request was received from nine ratepayers asking for the formation of a footpath on the left side of Owen Hoad for the convenience of women who traversed the route on foot. The ground for the request was that the construction of tlie new drain would render the footpath on the right side of the road unusable. The petitioners further asked for the erection of a light at the corner of Tyndall and Owen Road.—The matter was referred to the Works Committee.

WORKS COMMITTEE’S REPORT. The removal of trees, in Palmerston Road, between Dob den and Carnarvon Streets, was recommended by the special committee, and in respect to those in Derby Street in front of the' Gisborne School, the opinion is to be taken of both the school and church authorities on tlie question before, they are demolished. The question of water supply to tfio merged areas was discussed, and in respect to those properties in the recently merged areas which were enjoying the benefits of the water supply, but through a technical defect iii the Act managed to evade payment for the same, tlie committee recommended that- as the legislation had now been amended that the Council charge the inhabitants of those areas such rate of charges as were in force immediately before their inclusion m the Borough.

An application was received from a widow for remission of rates on account of extreme hardship, a judgment having been obtained against her as mortgagee of some properties which were bringing in no revenue and for which a buyer could not be found. The committee suggested that as in cases of this nature the Council would Have to act with caution, therefore, in lieu of remitting the amount of the judgment outright, that no further action be taken against the applicant, and that each vear’s rates beyond the three years recoverable be written off from time to time. - -

A complaint ,was received from the Drivers’ Union as to the. method of working the granulator crusher, and it was desired that same should be .inspected by the Works Committee and their recommendations passed on to the Council. This was agreed to. TRAMWAYS REPORT. Reporting on the tramways department for the fortnight on October 20. the manager (Mi’ K. G. Ball) stated:—• “The usual tramways time-table has been observed with the exception on Monday, loth, when the Ormond Road tram was not run iron: 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. owing to a defect in the motors. Motor bus timetable lias been run as usual with extra trips as required. The. new “Reo” bus was placed in service on Saturday, 20th, and is giving every satisfaction. During the period fares collected were: Gladstone Road, £ll l 19s lOd. Ormond Road £27 16s lOd, total £145 16s 8d car miles, 2279, 488, 2767; . fares per mile, 12.42 d, 13.7 d, 12.65c1»; passengers carried, 11,969, 277.3, 14.742. The motor bus returns were: Fares collected £173 7s 9d: bus miles run 3533; fares per mile 11.77c1; pasengers carried, 11,' 693 ’ The report was adopted. MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS

Reports on various matters were submitted by the engineer as follows :—• Stormwater drainage loan work, Roebuck road area: A 21-inch diameter concrete outfall drain is being laid to Tnmheru river at Roebuck road bridge. This will deal with stormwater north of Roebuck road i halfway to Herbert road), and exsouthward. to Palmerston road. ' 7. Renewal of water mams across Matawhero bridge: Arangements for connecting new 12-inch main on bridge with the existing 15-inch main are in train. Waterworks: The Water reticulation throughout the Borough has been given the usual attention. New services totalled 7, viz., one at Lytton road, one at Hinaki street, one at Clifford street, one at Fox street, two at Kingsley road and one at Whittaker street. Gauge readings were: Highest lCfolbs, lowest 7olbs. Work lias been carried out as follows.: Repairs to trough in Childers road, repairing leak on top line, repairing meters and air valves, repairing valve at abattoirs._ . tapping clamps for air valves, repairing taps and cisterns. The ton line has been maintained in working order. There was one leak at Maori Point. The quantity of water that passed through 'the Venturi meter for the weeks ending October 1.5, and Octob-

or 22, 1928,' whs 6,050,1)00 and 5,660,000 gallons respectively. To Arai Valley slip: Opportunity was taken by 'the Mayor and Or. Todd to visit the big slip at Waingake. It was seen that - something Would have to be dono to preserve the pipe line on the road and I un- ■ derstand that the Cook County Council wishes to confer with the Borough Council on the matter. in regard to the Te Arai Valley slip the Mayor said it was evident that something would have to be done. The Cook County chairman and engineer were going out to see it, and’ lie proposed going with them. Dr. Holmes suggested l that. the Council .should inspect the head works as some of the councillors had not seen them. Tlie suggestion met with general approval. The report was adopted.

CAMPING SITES. In company with representatives of tlie A.A.A., stated tlie Worlds Committee report a visit of inspection was made te tlie Makaraka Domain with a view,to it being more suitable than the Victoria Domain as the second site as a camping ground for "touring motorists, but no decision •was arrived at, the representatives of the A.A.A. desiring to place the matter before their executive. The Mayor said that since tlie report the Makaraka Domain bad been chosen. A ERODEDME FACILITIES. Advantage was taken of the visit to the Makaraka Domain, continued the Works Committee report, to go into the question of it« suitability as a future site for an aerodrome. The ground appeared to he eminently suitable, and with a small expenditure convenient landing areas could be established. the main drawback being the oblong shape cf the reserve, which measures approximately 6UUyd's by 300yds. It was reported that the Gisborne Racing Club could not entertain tlie use of the Parle racecourse as an aerodrome. Another site suggested by a. visiting airman was the Makaraka racecourse, and it is recommended that measurements lie obtained of this ground, and if of the required size that the Poverty Bay Turf Club be communicated with upon the subject. Dr. Todd suggested that the opinion of an export should be sought on the matter. Ho suggested that an official from Wellington should pay a visit to Gisborne and report The Mayor said the Town Clerk would take a note of the matter and write to Wellington. TENNIS COURTS.

The question of providing inexpensive grass tennis courts for the Y.W.C.A. was considered, states the Works Committee report, when the committee decided that the most suitable locality would be on Anzac Park, Score Point, which is now under cultivation, but will revert to the Council at the end of March next, when a suitable site for a couple of courts can bo selected and the grounds laid out and sown. The Mayor asked if there was no possible place, in the reserves for a court.

Cr J. W. Holmes suggested that one court might- be laid down on the Irainii road end of the Rutene Road Reserve.

The Mayor asked Cr Todd if there wan an v chance of a court on Waiteata Park. Dr. TocM said there was a suitable place in front of Richardson’s Avenue. The. ground, however, was used as a children’s playing prone but to place a tennis court them would mean “picking th-“ eyes’’ out of the. children’s grounds. On the motion cf tlie Mayor, it was decided to refer the report back to the Reserves Committee.

The report as a whole was adopted.