SOUTHLAND COUNTY COUNCIL.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 709, 10 March 1900, Page 2

SOUTHLAND COUNTY COUNCIL.

' .Pb_da_,-9_ Makch. The ordinary meeting held at Invercargill was _.-, attended- '.byA Councillors McCallum (chairman), "Fraser, Stuart, Raymond, Robert-' sou, Hamilton, Greenland McQueen. In regard to Pinckney Bros', request for a footbridge at Upper Waikaia it was decided' '. to inform the applicants that the work would < be done according to agreement, viz., that the cost be charged to the Government vote and ' £10 subscribed by Messrs Pinckney. H. Totupleton, . Waikawa, waited on the Council regarding the nuisance caused by .a manure heap, old buildings, etc., on tbe road leading to his house. He had put up- with the nuisance for the ' past five years. The manure heap extended the full width of the road, and the other nuisances were very diflicuH to put up with. Until the road to his property was cleared of obstructions and formed he had no access without sinking knee-deep in mud. "In answer to questions Mr Templeton said he had heard Mr Currie did not lay claim to the buildings on tbe road, but used them every day. — Councillor Raymond moved, Councillor Robertson seconding, that Mr Currie be given 14 days in which to remove the old buildings and manure heap in Nevis street Waikawa, otherwise the work would be done at bis expense. — Carried. Regarding the Piano Flat Co.'s application, for a subsidy towards cutting a track through the bush to their property at Waikaia, it was decided to subsidise the work to the extent of £15, the work to be. done to the satisfaction of the Engineer. A petition from 48 persons asking that Jas. McDonald be reinstated as surfaceman at Pukerau was received. — A letter from Jas. McKenzie offering his services as surfaceman at Pukerau was also received as an appointment had been made. J. D. Dudley wrote objecting to R. J. Potter's slaughteryards at Pukerau which were situated near the writer's house. Pigs were allowed to wade in a creek which flowed past his house, and the yards tended to make the locality unhealthy. — Sergeant Fleming (Inspector of slaughterhouses) reported having visited and inspected the yard, and found it clean and in good order. He thought the matter arose out of a complaint by Potter (at last meeting) requesting Mr Dudley to cut scrub along the course of the creek. Mr Potter had held a slaughtering license for the past three or four years without the slightest complaint. The postmaster affirmed that the yards were not a nuisance in the township. The pigs being in an enclosed paddock could not get into the creek. — Complaint received. E. R. Bowler applied on behalf of the Croydon Dredging Company to construct a water-race through private lands and across a roadline. — Application granted, tho water to be taken across the road in pipes, the work to be done to be approved by the Engineer. A. C. Begg's application for work on the road between Anise Hill and Cairn Station was further held over for a report by the surfaceman. Helena Johnstone, Redan Valley, applied for a reduction of rates and valuation on part of section 28, block 7. — Beferred to the Government valuer, Invercargill. A. Currie, Waikawa, applied for permission to put in posts on which to erect a light telephone wire on the side of the County road leading from the Waikawa Hotel to his sawmill, a distance^of little over a mile. — Permission granted, work to be subject to the Engineer's approval. S. Stanford, Lumsden, again complained of the hole in front of his cottage, and applied fo.l reliof. — Council could not make any alteration in the previous offer to vote Mr Stanford £3 for the purpose provided he did £0 worth of work. James Gordon and five other ratepayers at Waikaka asked that two gratings be placed over the present culvert pipes across the main road at Waikaka. — Gratings are provided for. It was resolved to inform Mr Hnnagan, lighthousnkeeper, Waipapa, that a • vote of £50 was in the Counoil's hands for the Tararua cemetery, and desired his recommendation as to the disposal of a portion thereof in any urgent repairs. The Mines Department intimated that a grant of £50 had been authorised towards the cost of re-forming Waikaia-Wbitecomb road at Gow's creek. — A similar intimation with regard to a vote of £200 for the Rivers-dale-Waikaia road was also received. R. McGillivray wrote complaining of the insufficient width of the Waimumu flood channel and asking that it be widened. — Received. Permission was granted to Geo. Templeton to trap rabbits on the Otara beach reserve for the season. The County Inspector reported having inspected the place where the accident happened to Mrs A. H. Aitken at the Wendon creek bridge on the 21st January and position of tho stone which led to the shying of the horse. He was of opinion that the stone was tipped in the proper plnCe so that the driver and horse could not fail to see it. In the case Goldring v. Wallace County Council it was stated that the timber was so placed that a horse could not see it until he was alongside of it. In the present case there was no such excuse. He strongly recommended that any claim be resisted. — Mr Aitken to be informed that the Council considers itself in no way liable. Neil McKinnon, Edendale, complained of rabbit traps being set on the road lines, causing inconvenience and being' a danger to sheep dogs. — Received. Peter Cameron, Islay Station, complained of the state of the road leading from the station to Islay' Gorge, and being unable to use it he had to send traffic miles round. This was the main Clinton-Wyndham road, and it was impossible even to ride over it. — Referred to Tuturau Road Board. It was decided to offer Mr H. P. Henriksen, Balfour, 2s Gd per chain for shifting 35 chains of fencing on Balfour-Ardlussa road. D. Manson, Wendonside, wrote stating that a culvert on the road from Manson Bros.' gate to the Dunedin-Mataura road (Otaria sub-division) was broken down, another one was blocked, and a new culvert was wanted to make the road passable for the winter, offering to do all the carting. — Surfaceman to report. The engineer reported having examined the proposed road deviation on the Balfour to Cattle Flat road through Mr Joseph Cunningham's land. The Government vote of £100 would be found to be quite insufficient for the purpose, as Mr Cunningham required £40 compensation for the land besides which £25 woulcL- be required for fencing and gates and £15 ' for cost of exchanges, so that with say £125 for construction of new road, altogether £250 would be required. He was of opinion that with the £100 a fp irly good job could be made by regrading ttei old bank and cutting on present road.— Beft in the hands of member and engineer. The County engineer recommended that the attention^of tbe Minister forLandsshould be drawn to the fact that the Council had on several occasions made application for authorities to expend Government "road grants, but up to the present time no'reply had been received. The Council should again apply for the necessary authorisation, as the road making season was drawing to a close. The votes asked for totalled about £0000. — Councillor Raymond asked if any acknowledgement had been received of the Council's applications for authorities. — The Chairman said there had not. — Councillor Robertson said Mr W. Fraser, M.H.R., liad wired asking why no applications had been made by the Council to the Government. — Councillor Raymond characterised the action of the Government as most scandalous. Clearly the repeated applications made by the Council for authority to expend the votes hid been received by the Government, but they had been thrown iuto tbe waste-paper basket ; the grants had been hung up until after the lst April, and then they would be voted again. — Councillor McCallum agreed that such .was probably the position. — The Engineer's recommendation was received, and it was resolved to make application to the. Minister for Lands for the following additional votes : — Wyndham Valley, main road, £300 ; do. towards Clinton, £100; Mokoreta to Tautukau, £200. Accounts amounting to £3725 6s 3d was passed for payment, and the meeting adr journed.