Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1901. NELSON ROADS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 172, 31 July 1901, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1901. NELSON ROADS

WHAT IS THE COUNCIL DOING ?

At the time some comments on Nelson road-mending mci hods appeared in this column a day or two ago there had boon a short spell of fine weather, and, as pointed out then, the roads had dried with as marvellous rapidity as they bficomo muddy after a shower of rain. Since then more rain has fallen, and yesterday we had the satisfaction of catching a City Councillor in the midst of a sharp shower and pointing out t« him the defects of which complaint had been made. At the moment Bridge-street, between the Bank of New South Wales and Waimea-street, wae a mass of floating mud, and the much-used turn of the road towards the Custom Houbo past this office was little better Yet on both these stretches of street a good deal of labour and money has been expended within quite recent months. Very shortly after, the City Councillor went on his way to inspect other parts of the weeping city a resident in the region of Vanguard-street recorded his comments. " You talk about Bridge-street," he said. " Come down our \ray, and have a swim." A third S man, from .the outskirts, smiled superior' j —the resigned smile of a pre-eminence j| in grief — and a fourth citizen mournfully declared that he k& d been, looking for an

expressman for three hours, but he feared they had all sunk beneath the surface of the Eaven Road. He asked if we had seen any traces of hats or horses' hoofs ' sticking up. I * # # The City Councillor admitted that, now he had seen the streets under the influence of rain, he felt that there was justice in complaints. He had always urged the adoption of a better system— he is one of tlio " new blood " — .but obviously it wrr neither politic nor desirable to undertake temporary and tinkering repairs in view of the comprehensive and permanent scheme of maintenance the Committee of the Council had been deputed to submit. " But," he added, " it is incomprehensible why the Committee delay their report. They have had plenty of time, and till a scheme is brought up we cannot do anything to adopt or modify or reject." It will be remembered that when the new Council was formed one of it first acts was Lo formulate proposals for various permanent works to bo paid for by readjustment of existing finances and by loan. Moreover, long before the election the old Council was awaiting the arrival of the mysterious road-roller, now astray on the deep or in process of being dug out of an iron mine, before taking definite action to improve the existing road-mending methods. Thus, between the old Council and the new, nothing has been done, and such repairs as are absolutely necessary are of a makeshift and temporary nature. # # # But such a condition of affairs cannot continue for long without serious injury to the city streets. The winter is nearly over, with compaiatively little done, and the dry weather is approaching, when the undermining of the winter months will be apparent. In the circumstances, the Committee of the Council should submit their scheme without further delay, for rejection or adoption or modification. The question is between the Council f.ni the ratepayers. If the latter do not B») their way clear to grant funds sumcient to carry out a comprehensive scheme of road improvement, then the Council will not be to blame. But the present position is that until the ratepayers have a scheme before them they are in the dark and unable to decide on any definite course of action. The Council is similarly hampered till its Committee report the result of their de iberations, and thus there is practically a deadlock. « * #

Meantime, every penny spent on temporary and makeshift measures is prac-. tically thrown away. The businesslike course seems to be to first take immediate steps to obtain definite information regarding the date on which the roadroller ordered will arrive, or to get another as soon as possible. As (hat purchase has been sanctioned on certain conditions, and for it provision has been virtually made, even if there be any hitch in obtaining money for a compre-^ hensive project of road maintenance current repairs and maintenance may be carried on under a better system than at present. Then, secondly, it appears advisable that the Council should ascertain as soon as possible the wishes of the ratepoyers in regard to future work of a permanent nature to be done on the streets and roads. A comprehensive scheme in the rough has been placed before the public, and a Committee of the Council have baen instructed to give it definite shape. Surely there is no reason for delay, for if the ratepayers would not agrea to grant more money the Council could stand exonerated, inasmuch as it had made the situation clear. But the present policy of putting off is just as unwise in its way as tho policy of " drift " with which the old Council has been charged, and which, the new body has undertaken to amend.