Oroua County Council

Manawatu Times, Volume 67, Issue 109, 11 May 1942, Page 3

Oroua County Council

The Oroua County Council met at Feilding on Friday, Cr. A. Campbell (chairman) presiding, in connection witn the impressment of : motor vehicles by the Army, the Counties’ Association wrote advising that representations had been made to the Government not to impress county trucks used for road maintenance. Mention was also made of the shortage of motor tyres and the chairman said that the county . had fair stocks on hand. An announcement that property-owners and locai bodies were to be consulted before any defence works were constructed on private land or public roads prompted the chairman to remark that this was very necessary since a good deal of work had been done without prior consultation with land-owners and local authorities. The council agreed to give consideration to a request from the Feilding Battalion of the Home Guard for a grant ; towards battalion funds. “It’s a mighty expense," remarked Cr. : T. Green in referring to the cost of the ' Emergency Precautions Scheme to the ; Hospital Board. He said that it would | cost the board £IOOO to complete the blackout arrangements for the hospital, while the cost of the emergency hospital , would amount to £4OOO. The hoard had anticipated concluding its financial year , with a credit balance of £6OOO but instead found itself facing a debit of £6OOO due to expenditure on account of emergency precautions. ’ The chairman also commented upon ’ the heavy burden of hospital maintenance on local bodies and said that the agitation recently launched by the cities might be fruitful. It had been felt that the social security tax would relieve ratepayers of some of the cost of hospital maintenance, but so far no benefit had been secured. The levy for hospital maintenance was falling very heavily on the county ratepayers and the Increasing burden pointed to the arrival of the time when the levy would equal the ordinary rates. It was high time that the whole position was looked into and the rating adjusted to a more equitable basis. Dealing with the finances it was reported that the rate collections over the past financial year were quite the best the county had ever experienced and the amount outstanding, approximately £3OO, concerned Native rates. The county fund account. showed a credit of £3741.