PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 78, 8 January 1881, Page 2

PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL

- Wednesday, sth January.

The usual monthly meeting commenced • at 11 a.m. on' Wednesday. Present-^. Councillors Dale (chairman), Milne, Game, -~ Winks, Homer, and Bridge.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Prpin the Colonial Secretary's office,' stating that a voucher for £276 has .been; passed to the account of the Patea hos- , pital, being the subsidy of.i> for £. — 'From' the same, relative to the Waverley recreation ground, and stating that the council's , letter, re leasing for 21 years, had Been referred to the Crown Lands Department. — From the same, stating that the council^ could have copies of statutes by paying for them. . ?J ' • From A; Wood, Carlyle, claiming five guineas for damage done to his property through water lodging on it^ being at the rate of 5s per week. From the Wairoa (Hawke's BayJ-conntrj^ council, soliciting cb- operation in the matter of obtaining handed endowments for counties ; and also for introducing an elective element into the constitution bl the Waste Lands Boards. — Acceded to/ From W. Dale, jun., requesting permission to erect a verandah in front of .bis premises. — The Chairman stated that be had referred Mr. Dale to the Carlyle Tqwp Board, and had given permission, subject to the approval of that .body. His action was confirmed. / . , From the Carlyle Town Board, forwarding copy of letter -from Crown Lands Department, and requesting the council to appoint three trustees for the recreation -' ground, in terms of the letter. — Messrs. Dale, Homer, and Tennent were accordingly nominated. From the Wairoa Highway Board,- in- ' quiring whether the council would make . ; any objections to certain deviations through ' native reserves, which the board cdnim-Jj plated making. — It was resolved tbat/aodjl objection should be made ; but the cowcil^ expressed an opinion that they/shouljbpt M further commit themselves. ~* " 1 From Rupert Jacomb, telegram stjmgr , m that he found the Hawera riding dicN^iß extend beyond the Waingongoro riTeflfl The Chairman explained that the btiJ^^J daries of the Hawera riding extende^^H far as the Taungatara river. From 0. S. Bridge,, stating that t^H following persons had been appoint^^B members of the Waverley Becreati^H Committee : — Messrs. 0. Hawes, !&. Bridge, J. Thurston, J. B. WalMngtd^B and F. H. Mason. — Confirmed*. ~ > " -^B From W. Robertson, Kakaramea, ob- t jecting to the closing of Wilson road.— Mr. Robertson attended in ~ person to - sustain his objection. It was decided that the matter should stand over for a month. From E. C. Tennent, Carlyle, stating that, should the Council require to make a new road on the Patea road, adjoining his property, he would be willing to allow 1 the spoil to be thrown into his gully, provided that the council erected a permanent fence where it was found necessary to pull down the present one, and did ' other work, such as preventing the water - from remaining on his land. : WAIMATE PLAINS ROAD BOARD. A letter was received from Mr. Bate, > Hawera, asking for infg^nation in reference to constituting a new road board on the Waimate Plains. The Chairman replied, stating that all the information required would be found in the Taranaki Roads and Bridges Ordinances. As, however, there was not a - copy to be had in Hawera, one was forwarded to Mr. Bate. Councillor Homer — How does the - Hawera Road Board manage to\do^its business without a Taranaki Roads, and Bridges Ordinance, seeing.thatev£rytbing_, they do' anust be in accordance therewith ? The Chairman—Goodness knows.. They appear to lose everything. (Laughter.) Councillor Milne thought this movement on the part of a few/ settlers in Hawera a little too premature; Although he himself was a purchaser of land on the Wniinato Plains, he had not received any notice* of the meeting, and was quite unaware Umt it was going to be held until < he saw it in tho Star a day or two ago. He was of opinion the Waimate could be worked more economically, as an outlying distriot, under that council, than it could be under a road board. The amount of deferred payment money accruing! from , the land would, he believed, *ioak«"tJ^©v* greater portion of the roads, and if 'done^ under the superintendence of the council, • W, a road board rate could be avpidedi He j .made that statement, because lie-, con-i J

v — — — — — — —^ — ■_ — — — —^— — fMer.e&'.that some of the parohasera, who were living in Auckland and other places, *Ught t6 have a voice in the matter, and ♦v *°P e^ ie council would not accede to S 8 fotnattdfl made by a feY people in Hawera. Tbe €haittnan said the proper course Would be for tbe settlers to petition the council to constitute a new road district. •Ihe would then convene a meeting of the settlers, as had been done in the case of the Ngaire Road Board district, and ask them to appoint coinmisfflonera, to be approved of by that council. He had received a request, that the council should not adjourn until after five o'clock, as a meeting was to be held that day at Hawera, and the result Would, if possible, be telegraphed before the office closed. As some councillors were absent, however, he thought it would be just as well to let the matter lay over until the next meeting of the council. If some of the settlers did not approve of the movement for a road board, they would thus be enabled to get up a counter petition. Councillor Bridge observed that a full meeting would then be necessary, or else the matter would have to be postponed for another month. The Chairman reph'ed that, according to the Act, the council had power to decide, "under urgent circumstances," without all the councillors being present. Councillor Milne again urged that the matter of forming the road board should not by hurriedly dealt with. Councillor Gane thought it would be very unfair to ask those who were about to settle immediately to wait until others made up their minds as to whether they would go on the land or not. He considered that those deferred payment settlers who were about to occupy their land at once were deserving of far more consideration than absentees. He should rapport the constitution of a road district as soon as it could possibly be done. I Councillor Winks said they were making a great mistake in having bo many road Boards. He advocated a division of the county. The work could then be done by one body, and the money paid to the secretaries of the road boards, and other such like expenditure, could be spent on the roads. The subject then dropped. DOG REGISTRATION. A discussion took place upon the subject of dog registration, Councillor Bridge haying stated that he considered it was the duty of the registrars to afford every •convenience to the public, and to have offices at the different centres of population. This opinion was generally concurred in, but the chairman stated that it could not be insisted upon, as only one office had been mentioned in the conditions of sale. It was further c licited that the owner might pay the tax in any riding he pleased, and the duty of collecting would therefore devolve on the registrar. If owners registered in another riding, the registrars would thereby be the losers, and therefore it would be to their interests to look after the licenses as much as possible. All the license money would, according to the Act, have to be paid into the council funds, and the registrars would have to be paid by cheque for the amounts due, over and above the purchase money. CARLYLE VERSUS PATEA. Tbe subject of changing the name of Carlyle to Patea was brought up by Councillor Bridge, and the chairman, after consultation with Mr. Milroy, the chairman'of the Town Board — from whom lie stated no satisfactory answer could be gbfc— said he intended to call a public meeting. '< UPPER AND LOWI&R NGAIRE. A petition from a number of settlers in tbi lower Ngaire, praying for amalgamation with the Ngaire Boad Board District, was laid upon the table, and on the motion of Councillor Bridge, seconded by the <b Airman, it was received. It was signed l»y the following persons, who gave the following area of their holdings, as under:— Acres. Acres. H. S6uthey ... 200 J. Zeratich ... 54 (i* Willy ...820 G.C. Turner... 158 {fc'Quin ... 62 T. Reynolds ... 64 «' "* Do. ... 56 E. Smith ... 40 "' Do. ... 241 L. S. Price ... 5 -A.J. Quin ... 191 Campbell Bros. 640 S. Gray ... 58 C. Dill ... 49 W. L. England 61 Fitton Bros. ... 108 Do. ... 64 A. Muir ... 197 T. Mabey ... 198 T.Jenkins ... 89 R. T. Hawke 100 H. Horneman 71 D.Anderson... 56 Do. ...^72 G. Moir ... 113 Do. , v . 67 Mr. Southey attended to support the prayer of the petition. He stated that he believed a counter petition had been got up,' but the persons signing it were all Jiving in one corner in the Boylan road, 1 and some of them were since sorry that they had signed it, when- ajfl the circumstances of the case were laid before them. He understood that two members of the Hawera Road Board were also members of the County Council, and he thought it would be unfair for them to vote on the ques&on, as they would be acting, so to speak', in the capacity of judges in their own cause. He was in the Hawera road district himself, but he considered that he and the other settlers in the lower Ngaire had far more in common with the Tipper portion of thadistrict, than they had with Hawera. B&was not in favor of road boards at all, and would rather 4ee the county council take charge of the -whole lot ; but if they were to be managed t>y road boards, he and his fellow-settlers preferred to belong to the Ngaire Road Board district, rather than to Hawera. Councillor . Winks remarked that the Ngaixo settlers would have an opportunity of putting in a member to the county council at the next election, which was now notfar_diatant. M*: Southey further observed that all "the settlers, except those who had land in the Boylan road, were strong advocates for amalgamation. It was the settlers in the lower Ngaire who were petitioning to foe amalgamated with the upper, and not the latter with the former. The Chairman stated that a- petition, Signed by the following persons, had been received at last meeting, against the proposed amalgamation: —W. Stuart, P. O'Connor, C. H. McCutchan, W. G. White* J. Pratt, E. Kelly, W. Broderick, W. J« McCutchan, D. Brown, A. Gibson, H. Gibson, J. and W. Cleary, M. Hogan, and J. Twigg. , In answer to the chairman, Mr Southey stated that ie , could not say what aorej.^jrt3fchos*t signing the counter petition rery\Aiyr *' ''' k nt tuev were all small holders, ' wt4^ vi * exception of Messrs. Stuart and j^^uknchun, whose holdings would, he Wiejed; amount to about 500 acres.

■' ' » A rough calculation was made, and it was ascertained that the acreage of the counter petitionists was less than 1000 acres ; whilst the acreage of those in favor of amalgamation was over 3000. The Chairman said that the petition Would have to lay over for a month ; but as the counter one had been received at last meeting, it could be considered then* if the council thought fit; but he suggested that both should be allowed to stand over till next meeting, as two or three councillors were absent. In reply to Councillor Winks, Mr. Southey stated that the settlers in the Ngaire district, as at present constituted, were in favor of the amalgamation. Councillor Bridge urged that the petition should be dealt with immediately, as the summer was now far advanced, and it would soon be too late to fcomxn'en'ce road-making. Councillor Winks asked whether the road works were not now being done by the Hawera and Ngaire Road Boards ? Mr. Southey replied in the affirmative, but stated that bridges and culverts could not be built until alter the next burn. After some further discussion, it was decided that the matter should be postponed till next meeting. engineer's report. The engineer reported that the rough state of the weather during the month of December had been very severe on portions of the road where tbe gravel had been of a sandy nature, and had obliged him to place an extra man on the Manutahi section. A small gravel-pit had been opened at Tangahoe, with a view of getting sufficient gravel to repair the worst places on the road in the vicinity. A culvert had been constructed in the Manutahi Gfibrge, near to where a previous \ one had rotted and fallen in. Hxs bad ■' laid off the boundary line of the road o>: \ the Patea hill, adjoining Mr. Tennent's < property, and found that tht> proposed deviation would not encroach upon his property, and any damage would result from the earth being cast down the gully. He estimated the cost of reducing the grade of the hill at about £160, and the gravelling at £57. A long discussion took place on the subject of cutting down the Patea hill, during which Councillors Winks and Gane strongly urged the more urgent necessity of repairing the Hawera-Normanby road, and doing other work ; Councillor Bridge coinciding with the latter view, as to other works being more necessary. Mr. Homer and the chairman strongly objected to having the Normanby road always brought forward and thrown in their teeth at each meeting. They would be glad to see it repaired, if tbe council had funds, and tbe road was proclaimed a county one ; but they objected to doing it, so long as the main county road wanted to be put in order. The HaweraNormanby road was not a 'county one, in any sense of the term. A motion for cutting down the Patea hill, proposed by Councillor Homer, was eventually lost. In answer to the chairman, the Engineer said the amount required for the road between Waihi and Waingongoro would be £25 ; south side of Hawera to Douglas's, £75 ; Manutahi to Burkes, £75 ; Whenuakura hill to near Syme's, £120. Tbe remainder could be done at the day labor estimate, viz., £75 per month for the next three months, and £120 per month during the winter. The places he had mentioned were the most urgent, but he could spend a good deal more if the council would provide the funds. — The money was voted for the works stated by the engineer, after a good deal of discussion. surgeon's report. Dr. Keating reported that two patients had been admitted during the mouth of December, and three had been discharged ; remaining in hospital — William Hoist (amputation) ; Patrick Henigan (ophthalmia). The surgeon stated that he had received a communication from the Wellington hospital, to the effect that it was desirable that Hudson should be taken home, as it had been deemed unwise to attempt any further operation upon his eyes for some time to come, at any rate. The chairman was instructed to communicate with the Christchurch hospital authorities, to see whether Hudson would be taken in there for treatment. SEPARATE ACCOUNTS. Councillor Gane proposed that separate accounts be kept for each riding, and presented to each meeting. Many of the returns that were presented previously were for years, and they could not arrive at a fair estimate in consequence. It had been argued that the work could be done cheaper by tbe county council than by the road boards, but he very much doubted it. If these accounts were kept, they would then be able to make comparisons. Councillor Winks did not think the councils and road boards ought to be compared. Their work was entirely different. The one had to make roads, whilst the .other had only to keep them in repair. Councillor Bridge, who had seconded the resolution pro forma, said he intended voting against it, as he could not see that any good could be done by keeping separate accounts. Councillor Gane, by leave of the meeting, then withdrew his resolution. doctor's charges and funeral expenses. Some discussion took place in reference to an item of £3 in the accounts, for Dr. Croft's attendance as consulting surgeon during an amputation at the hospital, and | also in reference to a charge of £4 ss. | made by Mr. Arthur for a burial from the hospital. Tbe former item, after some discussion, was allowed, and the clerk was instructed to call for tenders for burials, a strong opinion being expressed that the burials should be much cheaper than the rate charged by Mr. Arthur. AN OLD COMPLAINT. Mr. Woods again wrote to the council, in reference to the surface water lodging on his land. After some discussion, Councillor Winks proposed that tbe necessary work should be done, and the Town Board charged with the cost. Councillor Bridge proposed that legal advice should be taken by the chairman. Councillor Milne suggested that legal advice should also be taken at the same time as to whether the water could not be taken over the old course* He considered the Town Board • had acted very meanly throughout the whole affair*

Councillor Gane believed that the most efficacious way was to let the water take its natural fall — into the hole. He advocated pulling up the drain that had been made by the council.

Councillor Winks withdrew his resolution, and Councillor Bridge's was carried, efter some discussion, during which it was pretty generally agreed that the action of the Carlyle Town Board was far from honorable.

DAMAGE THROUGH TAKING OUT GRAVEL.

The Chairman brought forward a claim for damage sustained to his land, to the extent of £25, and expressed himself as willing to allow the matter to go to arbitration.

Councillor Winks said he also had sustained damage last year from the same cause, and he supposed he had better put in a claim also. His land was not alone damaged, but his gates had been left open, and his cattle got out and had been impounded. Councillors Gane and Bridge pointed out that the chairman could neither vote nor take part in any discussion in which he was interested, and the matter would have to be postponed till next meeting, as they would not have a quorum without the chairman. (Councillor Milne had asked leave to retire about half an hour previously.) After some discussion, during which Councillor Gane "chaffed" tbe chairman considerably, the subject* was allowed to drop. The council adjourned at 5.15 p.m.