COUNTY VALUATION AND ROADS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume X, Issue 1929, 14 May 1888, Page 2

COUNTY VALUATION AND ROADS.

A rough measurement of the area of the two proposed financial subdivisions of Waimate Riding, as made by us the other day, showed that there would be about 86,000 acres in the Eltham, and 63,000 acres in the Manaia subdivision. The question was asked, What do you suppose the property tax valuation would be of the two ? It was of course impossible to answer this with any degree of accuracy ; but it was suggested that £2 5s per acre for the bush, and i' 4 for the open land would probably be a fair all round estimate. This would make the rateable value of the bush subdivision the open land £252,090, and the total £447,000. The value of bush land would increase rapidly and would soon equal or exceed that of the lesser area of open land. Tbe total county valuation under the property tax in 1886 was £782,000. It is unlikely that the value of land in Hawera and Ngaire Ridings in 1889 will exceed that of 1886. It is quite possible therefore that after the next valuation Waimate Riding might fairly claim to be represented by five councillors out of nine, or at the least by four out of eight. Another suggestion was also made during an informal discussion, viz., that the only roads entitled to rank as county roads were those carrying through traffic and leading east and west. The following were recommended as county roads: — Eltbam road and the Main South road throughout the county. The Opunake- Stratford road to be a county road as far as the Manaia road. From that point on there is little settlement, and it runs so closely to the Eltham road that there is scarcely ,room for another county road. The NormanbyManaia road also to be a county road as serving the wants of a large number of ratepayers at the broad end of the riding.