TARAMAKAU BRIDGE

Grey River Argus, 23 September 1943, Page 6

TARAMAKAU BRIDGE

Commission of Enquiry SITTING CONCLUDES. The Commission which has been sitting at Greymouth to hear- evidence concerning the future control and maintenance of the bridge across the Taramakau River between Kumara and Greenstone concluded its sitting yesterdav, the Commissioner (Mr. G. G. Chisholm, S.M.) intimating he would consider the evidence and present his report to the Government. Mr. F. A. Kitchingham appeared for Kumara Borough Council, Mr. W. D. Taylor for Grey County Council, Mr. M. B. James for' Westland County Council, and Mr. E. F. Evans for the Main Highways Board.

When the hearing resumed yesterday morning further evidence was presented by the Grey County Council.’

John Higgins, Grey County Engineer, said that he agreed substantially with what Mr. Spiers and Mr. Murphy had said about mining and dredginp- on the north side of the river in 1907. A written statement put in by Mr. Higgins stated that the County’s expenditure on works in the district served by the bridge, from April 1, 1937 to June 30, 1943, was £6,080. The present rateable capital value of the district was £27,189 and that of mining property £6?150. The amount available from rates this vear apart from hospital rates was £242 13s 4d. From July 1, 193 g to June 30, 1943, £1,950 had been received from the State Forests Department. Expenditure within the same period had been £4,007. Of heavy traffic fees collected in the year 1942-43 £l2O had gone to Kumara, £5O 19s 2d to Westland County, and £5O 19s 3d to Grey County. The population of the district which in 1936 had been 120 (or 2.1 per cent, of the County population) was now 04. Mr. Higgins said that the rateable capital value mentioned in the statement was for th P district north of the bridge as far as Lake Brunner. Statements were also put in of expenditure of County funds and timber royalties in the district, and information regarding the population of the area across the bridge. Continuing ms evidence, Mr. Higgins said that under an agreement made about two years ago between the local bodies concerned it was arranged that the Kumara Borough receive £l2O nett out of the total heavy traffic fees collected by the Grey County for the district around Kumara. The County kept the road in the district across' the bridge without any contribution from the Westland County or Kumara Borough. The main item in the rateable value of mininp- property in the statement put in was the Taramakau mining privilege valued at £4OOO and on which no work was bein" done at present. The Count;/ could carry on if the four mills m the area were closed down. The rating records for the area for 1907 he had not been able to locate, and he could not give a comparison of the rateable value and rents in 1907 and now. There would be more mining work going on and a bigger population in 1907. Ahaura and Blackball did not have a domestic water supply. He thought Blackball had a bigger population that Kumara. He thought there was no connected water supply at Dobson and Tavlorville. Roads controlled by the County in the area were of a total length of 26 or 27 miles, of . which about 121 miles were main highway subsided by the State, nominally to th» extent of 75 per cent, though actually it did not work out quite like that because of tools and wages above the award rate not subject to subsidy. The remaining 14 or 15 miles were maintained entirely by the Countv. To ' Mr. Kitchingham: Present times were abnormal as there was no tourist traffic of any proportions anywhere in the district. Normally, the Mitchells road carried a considerable tourist traffic particularly at week-ends. Birss’s mill, between seven and eight miles from the north end of the bridge, was the mill farthest from Kumara. He also gave figures of distances of other mills. None of the timber lorries had been weighed on the road for a considerable time. The highway allowed a maximum load of five tons per axle. ? CONDITION OF BRIDGE. When the bridge was built there were only horse-drawn vehicles. Originally built, it was on the light s ; de for present traffic, but portions that had been rebuilt after being washed awav were heavier. There i

was still a portion of the original structure there. Two spans: on the south end of the bridge built during the last war of red pine were in a very bad state, and he did not think they were too safe even for motorcars. The spans added in 1940 were the best that could be done at the time and except in case of accident would outlast other portions of the bridge. With the bridge in the present condition, it was questionable whether it would not be better to make it hang together till it was oossible to rebuild. The rate levied in the County had been as high as 3d in the £ capital value, but at present was 2:,‘d. While the bridge was washed out in 1940 all the mills carted to the railway at Inchbonnie. If the road were restored for about two miles from Parker's mill towards Marsden the timber could be taken down the United tramway. That would entail extra handling. The grade on the tramway would be downhill. With regard to the Kumara water supply, where amenities had been provided it was customary to endeavour to preserve them. I know that many of the buildings' in the borough are in a dilapidated state.

To Mr. James: He could not give the revenue of the County from the district concerned in 1907. The County would be . deriving rents from mining properties and a couple of accommodation licenses. He was not sure whether they would be getting more or less revenue all the time since 1907. The statement of rateable capital value, £27,189 would mainly be of farming properties in the district. He did not think the land denuded by the sawmills would be used for farming as he did not think it was suitable. The roads in the district were all in the Grey County, which did not expect any contributions from outside the . County. To Mr. Evans: There were revenues received by the Grey County in excess of actual rates, and the mining revenue referred to by Mr. Bird in his evidence, would be additional. With rates £240, timber “fifths” about £4OO, heavy traffic £5l, together with gold revenue and drivers’ licenses, revenue receivable by the County if anything -would exceed expenditure. If the revenue did not exceed the expenditure there would be nothing for administration and the County could not carry on. The Taramakau Settlement was not dependent on the bridge, and the mills had been able to carry on without the bridge. The mill-own-ers had been very anxious for the bridge to be renewed when it was washed <away. To the Commissioner: The wear and tear to the road and bridge were largely caused by timber traffic. The County had power to claim a contribution from these users. He considered that the bridge should be controlled by the Main Highways Board as it contributed three-quarters of the cost, and had staff and facilities to deal with it. David John Evans, Westland County Clerk, said that the rate levied by the County was 2d in the £ on the capital value. Only a few chains of the southern approach of the Taramakau bridge were in the County, which derived no revenue from rates from any land in the vicinity. The heavy traffic fees received by the County came from the district all around Kumara and only a portion would be from the Taramakau part. The rent by the County for the Taramakau mining privilege was from a small part of the claim on the south side of the river. Of the six sawmill employees resident in Westland County travelling to work weekly in the Grey Countv he presumed two lived in Hokitika and the other four in Dillmansfdwn. He knew of no direct benefit the County derived from the bridge except that it was of convenience to the community. To Mr. Taylor: The County boundary generally followed the south bank of the Taramakau River.

To Mr. Kitchingham: The hospital rate was about sid in the £. When the sitting- resumed after the luncheon adjournment Mr. Higgins said that further to his evidence about the necessity of the bridge, the Taramakau Settlement would be very much handicapped without the bridge. It was the only economical wav 'of bringing out the cream, and, if the bridge were not there the Kumara Borough would lose its trade with the settlement. Regarding--the hospital rate, the settlement put in did not show the correct position for a five-vear period as the figures were for this year when, with a lowerin' 1 - of tne hospital levy, £5O more would be available for County purposes than was available last year. Mr. Evans did not call anv witnesses. but put in a letter written bv t'-> secretary of the Taramakau Farmers’ Union pressing for the erection of the spans when they were washed awav.

Mr. Taylor submitted that, there was no justification for changing the present incidence in the cost of main-

taining the bridge. If the bridge had been of benefit to Kumara when it was built it was difficult to say why it should not be of use to it now. In proving their own decline they had proved a like decline in the surrounding area of Grey County. He submitted that the capital value of IKumara was preserved to a large extent by the bridge. It was a fair inference that the bulk of the £lO,OOO earned yearly by the 35 men living in Kumara and working across the bridge was spent in Kumara. A sum of £261 was spent by the Borough Council in administrative charges, and total rates levied were £370. There was no justification, he claimed, for the continued existence of the Borough as an independent entity. It should become a part of Westland County and then a normal basis of contribution of 50/50 between the two counties might be applied. The loss of the bridge would be more serious to the Borough than to either of the counties. The tally figures showed that this section of Grey County was really a suburb and essential to Kumara. The water scheme was far too ambitious for a population of 430. Mr. James said that while the local authorities were constituted as at present Westland County had very little interest in th P dispute. The only revenue derived by Westland County from the bridge was a small part of heavy traffic fees. There would be no necessity to cross the bridge to dredge the portion of the Taramakau mining claim in Westland County. According to Mr. Taylor’s argument the yardstick to be applied was the amount of benefit derived by the local authorities as a result of the construction of the bridge.

Mr. Evans referred to the large ’ part of the Highways Board in assisting local bodies in the upkeep of highways. Of their total reading system 26 per cent in Grev County, 39 per cent, in Westland County, and 44 per cent, in Kumara Borough was made up of State and Main Highways, on the maintenance of which the Highways Board spent £37,806 annually, this did not include improvement work. On the maintenance of these highways the local bodies spent £3,939. Expenditure m 1942-43 on the maintenance of _ the Kumara-Mitchells highway was £1293 0s lOd, to a contribution by Borough of £9 7s 3d and by the Grey Countv of £421 13s 2d. This was apart from the maintenance of the bridge. The Board’s contribution was "reasonable and liberal and it would not regard favourably any request for more than a three to one subsidy. The Board considered that .control of the bridge should be vested in either the Grey County or the Board. The whole cost of State highways was borne bv the Board, and the declaration of State highways had saved the three local bodies concerned £7,348 yearly which they would have paid if only a 3 to 1 subsidy had applied to State highways. Kumara Borough had also been saved at least £l5O yearly on the maintenance of the State highway through the township. No evidence had been given that the bridge or the road should be made the responsibility of the State. However, the Board was generous in its contributions to bridge renewals and he thought it would be prepared to increase the usual subsidy for a job of this sort. Apart from the reconstruction of several spans, practically nothing had been spent on maintenance in the last three years. A rough estimate had been made that about £2OOO would be I‘equired to put the bridge into serviceable order for about ten years. If £l2O from heavy traffic fees and about z4O from licenses were expended in the way in which they were expected to be applied they would go a long way t meeting Kumara’s responsibility. Mr. Kitchingham said be took exception to the statement that Kumara was responsible for the construction of the bridge and was now trying 1 to slide out of its responsibility. There was no evidence as to who.was resoonsible, but probably the diegers of Greenstone had pressed for it. Regarding sawmill workers. living in Kumara. the real picture was that they lived there not because they liked it but because there happened to be houses there. The rates collected were low because of low valuations. Referring to the bridge traffic, he said that the loads were too heavy. The Forestry Department got a very considerable sum out of the district. He submitted that the men going to work across the river would not be incommoded if the bridge were not there I as they could shift out to the mills or get work elsewhere. There had been much criticism of the water sunnly scheme and he asked if it was suo-o-ested that the men were not entitled to a decent wash after work in the hush, The application for a

loan in connection with the scheme had been turned down only on the ground that Kumara should not be encouraged to increase its loan indebtedness. Reference had been made to £lO,OOO brought into the town in wages, but most of the goods in the town had to be imported into it, and it gained only by the profit, arising from the sale. When the bridge was out of use the timber had been taken out via Inchbonnie, and though protests had been made at the bridge not being there the cutting had gone on and the timber had evidently not been taken out at a loss. Whatever plant there was for loading at Kumara Junction could be installed at Inchbonnie. Kumara was rated at more than twice the rate of Westland County, and at one and threequarters the rate of Grey County. Apart from £l2O heavy traffic fees, Kumara itself derived no benefits from the bridge which it would not get otherwise from the surrounding district. The Grev Countv got enough in revenue from the district to do practically the whole of the reading in the area; only a small percentage was used on the roads to tne sawmills. The evidence was very strong that the people in the district went on to the larger centres to do their shopping, and the dairy company lorries did much cartage and purchase of goods for farmers.