Pahiatua County Council Meets

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 211, 7 September 1936, Page 2

Pahiatua County Council Meets

Tho monthly mooting of the I’aMatua County Council met at the council chambers, Pahiatua, on featunlay, there being present Crs. A. W. Bisset (chairman;, F. EL. S. Bolton, T. El. E’ouhy, El. U. Bryant, W. Lassen, El. It. Whitt a and J. It. Nelson. Crs. C. H. Hodgins and F. T. Homo were granted leave of absence. Correspondence. Mr fcj. El., Wheeler intimated that he was interested in the purchase of a section of land at Ballanee, but was unable t.o consider same at tho price mentioned. —The clerk stated that tho previous resolution was that if the oil'er was not accepted tenders were to be culled. Mrs Et. M. Bond, of Mangatamoka, requested council to put in a crossing at tho front gate on the main road, 'stating that a wide gutter a foot deep had been left as a result of tho recent road consturetiou. —Referred to tho engineer. The secretary of tho Mangatamoka Dornaiu Board referred to the state of the drain left by the road eonlractois, stating that 12 feet of piping and some lilling would be required to put same in order again.—Referred to the engineer. Mr Lester Hughes asked council to sell portion of closed road at Nikau.— -As a-road,” said Cr. i'ouhy, "it.will never be required.” It was left in the bauds of Cr. I'ouhy and the overseer to report on same at the next meeting. 'Mr J. E. Murphy sought permission to' run a pipeline across the road to connect up his two properties.—Agreed to,.su.bject to ..overseer’s approval. The Lands and Burvey Department pointed out that some improvement was apparently needed on tho access road to. Mr Wilton's homestead at Kumeroa, and requested council to make an inspection of'same with a view to having it made passable for light truck traffic.. A further letter was received from Mrs 1. M. Bridges concerning tho state of tho road and protesting against the council's attitude concerning the metalling of same.—Tho chairman said ft was a clay road and there were others in the country. The clerk said the council' received some "thirds’' from the Lands Department and the latter might insist on some money being spent on same. On the motion of Crs. Bryant and Bisset, it was decided to hold the matter over for a month and advise the writers that tho council is endeavouring to do something in the matter. Re-building Cottage. Reporting on the condition of the Malturi cottage, Cr. Lassen was of the opinion that it would not be worth building on to. Cr. Nelson thought the liouso was too good to be pulled down and that the timber was perhaps better than in some of the houses built to-day. He suggested certain alterations. Cr. Whitta said the house was there before he was born and he was inclined to Cr. Lassen's view, saying that portions of it were rotting away, but he did not think a new house could bo built until next year.. During the Hood time 18 inches of water lay around the house. A better site would be nearer the gate. The overseer stated that he agreed with Cr. Nelson’s suggestion and said if the council intended to build a new house, then the Municipal Reserve would be the best site, being high and away from flooding. Et was decided to hold the matter .

of re-building until tho council found out whether they could secure the municipal reserve from tho Lands Department. Cr. Bisset said that the new Government housing scheme might assist in the matter. River Protection.

The Main Highways Board notified that a sum of £390 (representing a three to one subsidy) would bo available for protection work at the Mangatainoka river, and intimated that they desired to receive detailed proposals of the work intended to be put in hand as soon as possible.—lt was stated that Mrs Brechin was quito agreeable to let tho council have a piece of laud to be used for tho purpose of putting out groins. The land was leased and the lessee was objecting because they wou*d collect logs and silt. The chairman said as it was now, logs and silt go over the property. It was thought two acres would not be sufficient and there was a question of compensation. It meant running a stopbank over tha property.—The matter was left iu the hands of the committee to attend to. No. 5 Scheme Workers. Mr C. S. Oarrud, certifying officer at Pahiatua, advised that lie had received a letter from the secretary of the employment division of the Department of Labour, Wellington, wherein the latter stated that they had received a complaint from the No. 5 scheme workers of Pahiatua, dealing with conditions under which the men were working and mentioning particularly those under the control of the Pahiatua County Council. The communication from the men in question made the following requests: (1) That the Labour Depaitmeut investigate aud explore the position iii the existing locality as far as tho class of work they had to do and the conditions worked under —iu short .some definite place or scheme to work at; (2) that men work only on new jobs, such as

road improvements or •viilening, etc..; (3) that it' men have to be conveyed by lorry, suitably-fitted vehicles be used; (-1) that shelters be provided on all works taking more than a fen- days to complete, i.e., when a gang consists of more than two or three men; (u) •that failing the county agreeing to any reasonable improvement in the conditions of work, etc., the men be placed on sustenance or, better still, Public Works control. A letter was sent in reply by the clerk on August 10, that the council would be no party to it, but they could investigate and explore the position if they wished. The chairman said the reason that these men did not want to report to the county yard was that in wet weather they had to stack chaff. General. The chairman stated that the county clerk should go down to Wellington to see if he could make arrangements with tne Loans Board to carry on witn the bridges. The rate demands could not be got out yet and practically nothing would be in before March, ft was decided that the clerk go down to Wellington and make suitable arrangements. (Jr. Lassen stated that there was a lot of goatsruo growing on the roads and it would bo advisable to instruct loadineu to pull it up. (Jr. Lassen asked that a 400 or 500-gallou tank be erected at the wharo at Makuri for roadmen. It was left to the overseer to make arrangements to have one erected. During the month 10 cattle and two horses were impounded.