COBDEN TOWN BOARD

Grey River Argus, 8 December 1932, Page 6

COBDEN TOWN BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of the Cobden Town Board was held last evening, and was attended by (Mminissioners A. H. MeKaiie (chairman). I'. J. ATettrick, I' J. 1 Ttlierbridgr. h‘. Marley. R. Ramage. F. W. Baillie. W. O’Reilly, and the Town Clerk, Miss E. Davison. I’he Treasury forwarded 5s goldfields revenue. It was decided on the recommendation of lhe Finance Commit tce that the offer of the Cobden Engineering Company be accepted for the sharpening of the Board’s tools up till March n< xt. Letters xvero received from Alessrs A. McLean, F. 11. Hayes, AL Anton, E. G. Clarke, and C. K. Alillar. drawing the attention of the Board to the stat“ of the drains, fronting their various piopiuties in Stafford. Peel. Clifford, Fox and Newcastle Streets, respectively. amt asking that the Board attend t( them. On the motion of the Chairman and Cr. Petherbridgc. it xvas decided that lhe drains be referred to the ('hairman <d’ the Works Committee. tu (get on v ilh ‘is soon us possible. I'he Chairman and Cr. Baillie were nppointed to represent the Board at lhe forthcoming conference eonxened by the Grey Borough Council, in the question of an air-port for the district. The Medical Officer of Health. ('ll list ch u ri-h. wrote complaining that the plumbing and drainage regulations under the Health Act. 192(<. were not being complied with in Cobden, and forwarded six individual complaints against residents for non-compliance with the regulations. The Chairman, referring to a complaint against himself, said that it seemed to be that they were all of fende rs. <’r. Mettrick: I think that some of' those men who have built houses without paying their fees should “go up.” The Chairman then moved that all those mentioned in the letters from tho Medical Oflieor be written to. asking for estimates for the various xvorks set out. and also applications for permits to enable the P.oard to charge for them, or else to take legal action. The motion was seconded by Cr. Baillie and carried It xvas also decided. <m the motion of ('rs. O'Reilly and Mettrick. that before :inx’ builder coinmoiii-es :my build-

ing. all building, drjiinage and plumb ing permits must be granted and the fees pJiid. A further letter was received from Dr. Fletcher Telford, Medical Officer, dealing with the drainage question, and it was decided to reply, informing him that the Board xvas going into the matter, and once the present causes of complaint were adjusted, everything would be carried out in .uc.coi dance with th<- Health Act. A. R. Johnson was granted a permit to erect a two-roomed dwelling on .Sec lion 298, subject to the Building InApplieations by W. J. Haseler to i alter a roof on a dwelling on Section 192/192 and by R. L. Coleman to erect a wash-house for P. J. Raleigh on Section 19 were granted subject to the approval of the Building Committee. Permission xvas grtmted A IL Me Ixane to extend the period for the installation of a drainage system, on ac count "f his having to guide the section. Bright Street Classification. A protest was received in connection! with the Board’s application to the; Main Highways Board to have Bright Street classified as a (’lass 111. road, setting out numerous reasons for objection to third class elassilicjit ion. The signatures to the petition were J. N. Alouatt, W. J. Steer, Rugg and Co,. Disptitch Foundry Coy, Ashby Bergh and Co., W Greenhill. J. Eadie, Cobden Engineering Coy, A. E. Paterson anti Go., Ogilvie and Co,. Harley and Co.. M. R. Spiers and 'l'exas Oil Coy. A sep.-.rate protest was received from Mr 11. McGlashan. The Chairman said that it must be understood that the Bojird xvas not applving for a re-classification, the road never having been classified. Cr. O'Reilly said that he considered that there xvas only one way to do it, and that was to cut down the expenditure t<> Bright Street to £lOO per year. Cr. Ramage asked xvhether the bus was costing the Board any more for upkeep of the road. Cr. Mettrick: It is costing us £550 a vear for the road.

Cr O’Reilly: There are twenty tons going over it every hour. Cr. Ramage said he considered that when they had first discussed tho classification none of them had known much about it. They had not realised that their action xvas going to bring down such a storm of protest. Personally he would not like, to think that any hardship had been imposed on anyone through the Board. Tt was not likely that they wore going to get anything x erx’ heavy, that would damage the road if they made it a Class 11. road. Cr. Mettrick: I do not think it is for us to make tho classification. I think it is a matter for the Public Works Engineer and the Department. The. Chairman said that tho previous, Board had started the agitation. They had objected 1o AfcGlashan’s five ton bus. and had objected to a license I being granted him for it, but it had

been hold over until the new Board came into office. The first thing the now Board knew was that the Transport Board had asked them to grant a temporary license, which had been done. The. matter had boon discussed with tho Public Works Department and it had become apparent that if the Board objected to a ten ton load on tho road, they would have to apply for a Class 111. classification, which had been done at the last meeting; but he (the Chairman) thought tho classification xvould rest with the Public Works Engineer. The Board was paying £550 per year for the upkeep of the road, and, as an addition to the. bus fares, it made the buses an expensive convenience for the people of Cobden. The Board must look after the ratepayers.

without trying to cause any inconvenience tu anybody. Referring to the clauses in the protest, lu* said that thev had been set out by one man who, unfortunately, thought that the Town Board had got a grievance against him, which was not so. Personally. he (the (’liairman) was in favour of the application for the classification going forward. Surely the Board was not going to pull out because it got a letter. Cr. Baillie: Cobden is a busy town. We cannot blame it all on the buses. I think wo should leave the classification to the Public Works Engineer. The Chairman: But we have applied for it. Cr. Baillie: T think we were under a misapprehension. The Chairman then moved that the objections bp posted to the Main Highways Board. This was seconded by Cr. Ramage and carried.

WORKS COMMITTEE REPORT. The following was the Works Committee’s report for the month of November: — A general clean up of the streets has taken place. Bright Street. —Chipping and generally cleaning footpath, drains and water-tables in Bright Street, to Cobden bridge, also Fox Street, from Newcastle Street to Palmerston Street, also Word Street from Sturge Street to end. Peel Street—Cutting drain from Richmond to Cliflord Streets. Clifford Street. —Cutting drain from Bright 1o Fox Streets: widening foot-, path ami fixing footbridge. Fox St Gravelling footpath and stoning wall from Clifford St. through to Hp.U St. ■ Richmond St. —Cleaning drains from Ward to Fox Sts., also chipping and cleaning street. Sturge St. Cleaning drains and cutting grass Domett Esplanade. —Filled in pot holes and put ; on gravel where required. Cut back lupins and gorse on road side. The : lorry was engaged each Monday col- ; lecting house rubbish and depositing ‘ samp on dump in Bright Street. Some ■ road and drain chippings were carted , to the dump in Bright Street, the bal- I nnce was tippel in the hole on the side of Richmond Street. The number of i days spent spalling stone was as fol-1

lows: Two men for six days, and one man for live days. The report was adopted as satisfactory. . Cr. O’Reilly: Thirty or forty people get. into the Cobden buses of a Saturday night. Is it not part of the duty of the Tragic Inspector to look after the buses.’ I do not like the idea of people getting squashed into the bac-k. and then there being an accident. The Chairman: I always look upon that as a personal matter. A man D foolish if ho gets in. The mention of the Traffic Inspector reminded the Board that his six months’ appointment was up at the end of last month, and it was decided to re-appoint Mr A. E. Sloss as Traffic Inspector for a further six months ar the usual remuneration. Cr. O’Reilly said that he had noticed quite a lot of unemployed chipping grass, and suggested that they be put on the work of getting Ward Street put right through to the beach.

I It was decided, however, to hold I this matter over until after the holii days. ; It was decided to hold the next moot- 1 j ing of the Board on Wednesday. Janu ary 18. As it was ihe last meeting for the J vear. the Chairman extended the com- ; • plimpnts of the season to the members I of the Board, the staff and the Pre-s.