OROUA COUNTY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 167, 14 June 1940, Page 5

OROUA COUNTY

MEETING OF COUNCIL. ItlYEll EROSION PROBLEM. At the monthly meeting of the Oroua Countv Council, yesterday, Cr ACampbell presided. Also present were Crs T. Green, W. S. Page. B. McLeod, R. Stewart, A. B. Shannon and W. L.< McLennan. The matter of the removal of rubbish -on Midland Road, Colyton, was reported upon, Mr R. L. Harding (clerk) stating that he had advised the person concerned that unless the heap is removed legal action will be taken. The Public Works Department advised that no money would be available for constructional work this yeai unless the votes already made had been subjected to commitments and that in the case of maintenance the allocations had to be reduced unless some special reason could be advanced for m or * o rf , porte( q that he had attended a meeting of the District Council of the Main Highways Board and the shortage of steel and the recent strike in Australia had some bearing on the matter. As far as the Oroua County Council was concerned most or the money voted had been expended. There would, however, be no money available for the construction of the Waituna Stream bridge, and the settlers concerned were somewhat to blame because of their delay in P rom l ising to find £l5O towards the cost oi the bridge. They had now missed the bus,” added the chairman. Cr Shannon : Have the settlers pan in any money? , ~ , The chairman: No. A guarantee that the monev would be paid was received but had 'the settlers moved early m the matter the bridge would probably have been built during the past imam C 1 Councillors expressed their opinion that the position could not he alte T ed ’ The nation was passing through a serious phase and local bodies had to bear their share of the burden. The letter was received. In regard to the extending of heavy traffic license conditions to farmers trucks, allowing up .to 5 tons laden weight, it was the opinion of the council that farmers should be given ■ < warning before prosecutions were made for overloading. , , A letter received concerning the Lady Galway Patriotic Guild stated that gifts of underwear and footweai were required for. the relief of distress amongst refugees in Great Britain. The letter was addressed to the chairman who stated that Mrs Campbell would not be able to take an active part owing to ill-health, and be asked that the council appoint a deputy to attend the conference called to take place in Wellington. Cr B. McLeod said that the Mayoress of Feilding (Mrs Seddon, senr.j would be attenclincr the conference. The women s organisations were keen to assist, anc even the children were being asked to help. It was left in the hands of Crs Green and McLeod to arrange for a lady- to represent the council.. That the Manawatu ’River was rapidlv reaching the stage when erosion would threaten the Siberia Road was a warning received from a firm or solicitors in. Palmerston North, who mentioned the position of a client residing in that district whose house would have to be shifted on account of the river threatening to wash it! The council, stated the airman, considered the matter 12 months ago and was of the opinion that the job was far too big for tlie council to un-

dertake. “We could not undertake to protect any property,” lie added. It was decided to advise the writers accordingly. . ~ In connection with a letter from the Wallace County Council, asking . the Oroua Council to support its resolution urging the Government to reinstate tne 48-hour week, the chairman said lie felt that the matter of reinstating longer hoqrs on account of conditions prevailing national I y and internationally was one which the Government should handle. The Government made the big mistake when it. brought in the 40-hour week. It had the power and legislation on the Statute Book to deal with the situation and should tackle the job. A councillor: The Government .is not game to bring in a longer working week. , The chairman stated that the Government had encouraged men to work only 40 hours with no work on Saturday. . On the motion of Crs Shannon and Page, it was decided to support the Wallace Council’s resolution and to communicate its decision to the Minister.

It was decided to draw the attention of the Railway Department to the fact that approaches to sets of rails in the Halcombe district required attention. . Several matters in regard to bridges and culvert's in both ridings were referred to the engineer for a report. Favourable comment on the ability of the machinery foreman to repair parts, to replace which would be costly, was made

Cr McLeod brought up tlie matter of tree planting in tlie county, being of the opinion that the council should plant its reserves. It was left in the hands of the engineer aiid Cr McLeod to proceed with planting at Makino and, possibly, Colyton. Advice was received from the Commissioner of Transport that the chief traffic inspector would call and discuss traffic control in the county. Another letter from the same source advised that the classification of farmers trucks had been extended to include trucks up to five tons laden weight. Information regarding the extent to which the council had proceeded with the preparations of an emergency precautions scheme was requested by the Minister of Internal Adairs. Comment on the claims made by the Drivers’ Union for a new award was sought by the County Councils’ Industrial Union of Employers. Rate transfers were approved as follow: C. E. Wheeler to Mrs A. R. Everard/ Mrs E. Aue to G. W. Fothergill, J. Lewis to J. F. Horn, Mrs E. Johnson to G. W. Fothergill, F. M. Merritt to Mrs R. H. F. E. Merritt, W. 0. Caldwell to l 1 • B. Jones, F. Cowdrey to I. B. Fraser, F. S. Guy to Mrs C. Gould, G. A. Wychcrlev to R. M. Wycherley, A. Hall to G. A. Wycherley. The engineer (Mr It: L. Harding) reported that since concluding the estimates and report, a meeting of the District Council 4 of the Main Highways Board had been held to consider estimates for the current year. “As a result of that meeting ft is now clear that we will not receive any authority for new construction works on main highways, and for this reason it has been necessary to redraft the estimates by eliminating these items,” the engineer said. The elimination of new construction works means that our plant which would normally be occupied on works under this beading for about three or four months of the year will now be available for additional work on riding roads, and I would suggest that during this year these roads should be improved and regravelled where necessary I estimate that £B3O 10s, being 5Q “per cent, of the sum allowed for new construction works on main highwavs, will be ai-ailable for this additional work on riding roads; the balance would be accounted for, bv loss of plant hire which would normally accrue had tlie construction work been proceeded with. Should these proposals be acceptable to you the general rate would remain unchanged during the current year, and with the improvement in the standard of tlie riding roads the council would die in a favourable position to consider a reduction in the rate next year. The only alternative that I can sec would be a reduction in the general rate, necessitating the laying aside portion of our plant, and a consequent reduction in the outside staff, a procedure which seems to me, under the present conditions, to be undesirable. ESTIMATES ADOPTED.

The. treasurer reported :—Total rates outstanding, previous three years— Native, £837 12s 7d; European, £496 7s 4d ; total, £1333 19s lid. Collected: European arrears, £2OB 8s 7d ; arrears outstanding at 13-6-40, £1125 11s 4d. Riding accounts: Expenditure on maintenance, Western riding, £3OO 16s Id ; presented for payment, £286 7s 6d; Eastern riding, £374 8s 7d; presented for payment, £253 5s 2d.' Bank balance, general account, dr, £146 12s sd_. Consideration was given to the estimates for 1940-41. and after a discussion they were The council was not desirous of altering the rates until after the revaluation of the county, next year. It hoped to;make a considerable reduction in the rates next year. With the plant available, the council would be able to put the roads in the ridings in first-class order. It was not likely that any material reduction would need to be made in the outside staffing. ~ . ‘ It was stated that the engineer had made a good job of regrading the Aorangi Road and was capable of doing a similar job on the Mangaone Road. The construction of the BunnythorpeAshliurst Road preparatory to sealing would have to cease. The estimates were adopted.

The council proposes to levy a general rate of id in the £, and a hospital rate of fd on the capital rateable value. i