COUNTY AFFAIRS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3444, 12 November 1932, Page 5

COUNTY AFFAIRS

«. MONTHLY MEETING OF COUNCIL. The monthly meeting of the Waitomo County Council was held yesterday there being present Crs. R. Were" (chairman), J. R. Jensen, R. W. Neal, G. P. Webster, C. K. Wilson, L. W. Jones, W. A. Lee, J. Georgetti, E. Rattenbury, the County Clerk, Mr. Perry, and the Engineer, Mr. Browne. H. J. Behrent, Kopaki, was grant'ed permission to take some dead rimu logs for battens from the Mapiu Road at Is. per hundred, provided the adjoining settlers were not in need of them. The Crown Lands Ranger wrote in regard to a complaint of straying stock on a Crown section at Waitomo, stating that only three head of stock had been on the road, and the balance of straying stock had come from other farms. The Paro Road. A. Henderson wrote regarding the delay in metalling the Paro Road. The writer requested the Council to take some action without the help of the "famous" Highways Board. If the road were metalled there was £475 waiting the Council in royalties on timber cartage, and he was willing to put half the cash down at once if the work is done right away. The County Clerk stated that the County had £4OO waiting for this work, but until the Highways Board fulfilled its promise to find its quota nothing could be done. Cr. Georgetti said he had interviewed the Highways Board engineer in Wellington in regard to the road, but he would not commit the Board in the matter. There seemed to be some doubt as to the future maintenance of the road. Cr. Webster said it should be made clear to the Board that ample provision would be made for maintenance by timber royalties, and these would ensure the road being kept in a good state of repair. Cr. Wilson said the Highways Board had promised to carry out the work if the County found £4OO. That sum was available, and they only asked that the Board should fulfil its promise. Cr. Georgetti said that the engineer had promised to bring the matter of the Paro Road before the Board at its meeting on the 16th inst. It was decided to await the decision of this meeting before taking action. Speeding on Highways. The Waitomo Lime Company asked if the Council could not take action regarding speeding by motorists on the main road at Te Kumi. This was a serious menace to the Company's lorries operating from the road near the quarry, and the cause of a recent accident. The clerk stated that the regulations provided for a speed limit of 15 miles near intersections which were classed as legalised roads. The road used by the Company was not a legalised road. Another Mud Road. A settler wrote drawing attention to the bad state of the Aria-Mokau-iti road, this causing- damage to the writer's vehicle to the extent of £3O. Cr. Webster said this was a clay road, and very difficult to keep in order. The engineer said that if these clay roads were used for heavy traffic in wet weather it was quite impossible to keep them in a decent

state of repair. Cr. Lee said if the users of the roads did not use some discretion in these matters it was impossible to help them. It was decided to inform the writer that unless the traffic was lightened in wet weather the conditions on the road could not be improved. Tumi Tumi Road. J. N. Boddie wrote stating that the settlers were prepared to find £4O for the metalling of the Tumi Tumi Road, but were not in a position to load themselves for special rates by way of a big loan. The clerk said this offer had been sent on to Mr. Broadfoot, and the Council had made £IOO available for the work. There was a large amount of native land interested in this road and it had been suggested that the Native Department find £l5O. Both the P.W.D. and the Unemployment Board were averse to spending any large sum on the road unless the owners or the Native Department paid something. Pao Road. A settler on the Pao Road wrote stating that owing- to the times he could not provide the £l6O formerly offered to metal this road, but offered £SO. He suggested that the work might be carried out by relief workers, and the Council might waive the royalties from the Aria quarry for the metal required and for the machinery. Cr. Webster said this man was a good settler. He had always paid his rates in full, and he thought the Council could well afford to give some concessions in the royalties. On the motion of Cr. Neal it was decided to concede the metal royalty and half the machines royalty, provided the machinery was left in good order to the satisfaction of the engineer. Cemetery Trustees. The Health Department wrote asking if the Council would take over the power of accepting and removing trustees for cemeteries in the county in place of the GovernorGeneral. It was decided to accede to the request. Rates on Crown Lands. The Counties' Association stated that it was proposed to wait on the Prime Minister in regard to the rates on Crown lands, and asking the Council to forward any information on the matter that might be useful. Hospital Rates and Native Lands. The Valuation Department wrote in regard to the Council's protest in being charged for the Hospital levy on native lands for 1932. The Department stated that native lands had been exempted from rates by Order-in-Council on November, 1928, and no hospital levy made for these lands in 1929. A further exemption had been granted for the years 1930-51, but that the order has expired for 1932, and the Council was liable for the levy this year.

The clerk said the Department would not acknowledge this case as a cause for appeal, whether it was right or wrong. Cr. Lee: It means that the County is paying the levy when it has not received the money. The clerk said the County was paying the levy for one year when it was not justly entitled to be called upon by the Order-in-Council. Main Highway Fund. The Canterbury Progress League sent a circular letter asking that the Council support the principle of keeping the Highway Fund a separate account. Cr. Neal said he doubted whether the Council could support this. They would get better treatment from the P.W.U. than the Highways Board, which wanted to spend all the money on the main highways. The back country settlers were not getting a fair deal from the Board.

Cr. Webster did not agree with this, and was of the opinion that all money raised from the motor traffic should be spent on the roads. The Clerk stated that £6OOO had been allocated to the County from the Board for back l-oads. Actually £2OOO had been spent in this way, and the reason given for the balance not being available was that the funds of the Board had been devoted to other purposes. On the motion of Cr. Webster it was resolved to support the principle of keeping the Highways Fund a separate account. Classified Valuations. A communication was received from the Waitotara County Council asking support for a movement for classified valuation of lands, viz., dairy country, sheep country, and run country. Cr. Lee said the only way to value land was on its productive capacity. It was a dangerous thing to tinker with these matters under present-day conditions. Cr. Georgetti said it was hard to arrive at the value of any lands today. If land values in the County were reduced 25 per cent., then rates would have to go up 25 per cent. On the motion of Cr. Wilson it was decided to reply stating that the time was inopportunte to deal with the matter. Subdivision and Metal Roads. A letter was received from a farmer protesting against the Council's decision at last meeting in demanding that provision be made for metalled roads in the proposed subdivision of his property. It was stated that this demand of the Council made the subdivision impossible. Ci*. Georgetti said he had not altered his opinion in this matter. It was better for the vendor to provide the metalled road than place the onus on the Council, as would inevitably happen in a short time. The individual sections would have to pay for the roads some time, and the speaker asked why this should not be done when a sale was made. The Council had already decided not to go in for any more special rating districts until the position of the farmer had improved. Cr. Webster said that part of the subdivision would not require a metalled road, and the whole would not need to be metalled. He felt that the owner should be given some latitude in the matter. Cr. Neal said that at present this property was sheep country. It was now proposed to cut it up into dairy farms, and with cream carts operating a metal road would be necessary. The property was . already paying on a special rate. Cr. Wilson said he understood that the former resolution only provided for metalling where necessary. Cr. Lee was of the opinion that the former resolution was a shortsighted one, and was placing a brake on close settlement so necessary for the district. The Council should give every facility to have these large blocks cut up into small farms. No action was taken to l-escind the former motion. Cr. Webster said he would inspect the property before next meeting and report.