LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL REQUIREMENTS

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4648, 13 July 1944, Page 2

LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL REQUIREMENTS

MATTERS BROUGHT BEFORE THE MINISTER OF WORKS The Hon. K. Semple, Minister of Works, paid an official visit to Queenstown on Monday. In the evening he was waited on by Messrs L. Lee and D. C. Aubrey, members of the Lake County Council, in respect of several requirements. Mr Lee, in the absence of the chairnufh( Mr D. H. Cockburn) welcomed the Minister. Matters which he wished to bring before Mr Semple were the prosecution of the Spotts creek bridge at Cardrona and the jdacing of water tables around the Glendhu Bluff road at Wanaka. These matters had already been brought under his notice by Cr Aubrey. The next matter was the replacing of a grant on the estimates for the Von road which connects Mt. Nicholas with Southland. A grant of £2OOO was made for this work before the war but only £4OO was spent when the grant was withdrawn. This was an urgent undertaking and 'they would like the work to be resuscitated. He said that Mackenzie Bros, whom this vote vitally affected, had been most helpful to the county in assisting to keep their roads open. Mr Lee then spoke of the kca nuisance, which, he said, had cause 1 tremendous losses amongst sheep. The estimated loss in Lake County over live years had been 6625 sheep and Vincent County suffered a loss of 2220. The cost to the county over this period was £sl representing 2/per beak and the Government subsidy was 2/6 per beak. One run in the county comprised 123,000 acres, of which only 30,000 acres were in use. The remainder of the area was a breeding ground for the birds. The coun- ! oil asked if some more drastic steps ■ could be taken to combat the pest. Mr Lee then drew the Minister’s • attention to a proposed deviation of | the Fairlight—Garston road, of which i the Southland Automobile Association , wrote to the council. The proposal was to run a new road alongside the 1 railway line between the two places. '• The council considers that the present road serves the settlers well and would in any case have to be kept open. Two expensive bridges would have to be built on the new road if it was put through. There would then be two roads instead of one. There were three bridges on the present road and the fourth was the only one affected toy floods. He would like the Minister to take notice of it when he passed it on his way to Garston next day and if possible authorise the construction of a bridge immune from floods. QUEENSTOWN—GLENORCHY ROAD The Queenstown-Glenorchy road project had been before the Minister several timees and it was not necessary to go into the question at any length. They understood that the Minister had agre'ed to have a survey made of the road and had put the work fairly high in the priority list. They asked him to expedite the work as much as possible on account of its urgency. Cr. Aubrey said the matter of the water tables on the Glendhu road had been brought before the Minister in Wanaka and it was hoped that some attention would be given to the request. Replying to the deputation Mr Semple said that a great deal of money would be involved in a major plan of road development which the Government intended carrying out in the future. He realised the necessity for Spotts creek bridge in view of a recent hold up of the transport of an injured man and this and the water tables at Glendhu Bluff road would receive attention. In reference to the Fairlight—Garston deviation he was not going to replace a road which was at present giving speedy access to the settlers with one that would give a short cut to tourists. The Von road was one of many hundreds which would be given attention when there was a return to normal conditions. He said many of their engineers and experienced staff and workmen were oversees. Things looked better today and until their return they were not going to undertake a big programme of works. The Queenstown - Glcnorchy road would be considered on linos already indicated by him. He assured them it would not be neglected. The matter of the kea nuisance would be referred to the Hon. W. E. Parry, Minister of Internal Affairs.. He said, in conclusion, he hoped that the county would co-operate with the Public Works Department. There was a long list of works to be undertaken which would aid in the development of the district. If the council had any practical proposition to put be fore the Department it should get its engineer to prepare a schedule and submit same through Mr Bodkin. They will be thoroughly examined by competent engineers and will be earned out in accordance with their urgency. Mr Lee thanked Mr Semple for his reply.