WAITOMO COUNTY

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4746, 14 September 1935, Page 5

WAITOMO COUNTY

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Waitomo County Council was held in the Council Chambers yesterday, there being present the full Council, Cr. W. A. Lee, chairman, and Crs. G; P. Webster, J. N. Boddie, G. W. Crocombe, R. W. Neal, L. R. Jones, J. Georgetti, F. H. Miils and C. E. Roberts, and the clerk and engineer, Messrs. O'Brien and Browne. The district railway traffic manager wrote that it was not proposed to move the railway trucking yards to the quarry siding as suggested. The position would again be reviewed should the suggested stock route from the Awakino Road be provided. In the meantime the yards would be kept in good position. It was decided to buy four guineas' worth of health stamps, half of the cost of which would go to the fund for childrens' health camps, while the other half would provide for ordinary postage. A letter from the Taumarunui Borough Council reporting progress of the petition for a referendum on the liquor licensing question was received, it being again mentioned that this was not a matter for local bodies.

W. M. Gellatly asked for assistance and guidance to help him in metalling his half mile of access from the Ngatarawa Road. The matter was delegated to the engineer and Cr. Roberts. A letter from Aria stated that £3O was available for clearing willows from the Huiopeheo and Mangawhero streams. It was advocated that those streams should be done first before the Mokauiti stream, but it was commented that it was likely the outlet would have to be tackled first by the Public Works Department, who had undertaken to do the work providing this £3O was available.

Letters were received in regard to the proposal to have the willows cleared from the Waipa stream and its tributaries.

The chairman said that proposal was one to which the Council, could give its moral support, especially as some measure of benefit would accrue to the northern ridings of Waitomo. He held that the whole area should be incorporated under one board, absorbing the smaller boards, as, especially when it came to maintenance only, the small boards involved heavy administration costs. It was decided to pay £5 towards the expenses of the preliminary committee.

The engineer submitted a comprehensive report of. the advisability of purchasing a lorry. It was agreed that the scattered nature of the work and the amount that would be continuously available made the cost of maintaining a lorry and paying a driver, over £IOOO a year, practically prohibitive. The cost was also responsible for the deferring of the question of the Pio Pio stock route indefinitely. The owners of the two properties through which the route would pass wanted £l5O each to compensate them for the taking of their land, and, especially as even then the route would not divert stock from the Pio Pio bridge, Crs. Crocombe and Neal did not look upon it as a feasible proposition. Cr. Boddie's action in opening negotiations for the purchase of the closed • Pakeho school for the purpose of using it for a roadman's cottage was confirmed.

Metalling of Roads

A letter from the Public Works Department was received stating that nothing- could be done this year about metalling the Mapara South Road unless the Council were willing to forego other grants. The letter was received.

The chairman reported that he had been in Wellington interviewing the Minister in regard to three roads on which the settlers and the Council were prepared to make contributions for their metalling. These were:—

An extension of the metalling on the Tumu Road (Boddie's) Road, for which the settlers had promised to find £47, while the riding would contribute £SO; the Upper Waitomo Valley Road, for the metalling of which £45 was available from the settlers and £3O from the riding; and the much larger job of the Wai-tete-Puketutu-Kopaki Road. An amount of £l3O was available from the settlers along this road and from car owners at Mangapehi, from whom £l6 or £l7 was collected, while the ridings concerned were prepared to find £l5O. The chairman commented that on the latter road he had hoped that more would have been contributed. Most of the settlers had responded well, but of two large land owners one had refused to contribute and one had paid £5. If such people as these had been prepared to contribute in proportion, the matter would certainly have a better reception from the Department. The chairman's action in placing these cases before the Minister was approved. A deputation from the Mangapu Drainage Board waited on the Council. Mr. G. Were and the chairman explained that about 15 years ago the County had raised a special loan over the area which comprised the Drainage Board to eradicate willows. The move was not successful, and there was a balance of £7O of the loan not expended. Now the Mangapu Board was experiencing considerable difficulty in finding cash until their rates came in. Practically all the pulling work was finished except a small stretch near the Borough boundary. Seeing that the Council's loan had been for the same purpose, Mr. Were asked that, if it was legally possible, the Council should give the spending of the balance of the money to the Mangapu Drainage Board and tide them over a difficult period. On Cr. Boddie's motion the request was granted if it was legally possible, it being pointed out that the £7O had been lying unused in the account for 15 years.