WAIMEA COUNTY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 13 April 1934, Page 2

WAIMEA COUNTY

COUNCIL’S MONTHLY MEETING REVIEW or WORK IN ’1 HE RIDINGS The monthly meeting of the Waimea County Council to-day was attended by Councillors J. Corder (Wangamoa) chairman, R. Teece (Moutere). F. Gibbs (Wangapcka), A. Kenyon (Dovedale), G. Manson (Stoke). L. M. Palmer (Appleby), L. 11. Higgins (Motupiko), and Herbert Everett (Wai-iti). Accounts amounting to £2804 were passed for payment. Bank balances up to yesterday were

Expenditure on main roads 1933-34 at 31st March was shown as follows: — General, £7B 6s 2d ; wire-netting. £254 9s Id : Appleby. £42 6s 10d ; Wai-iti, £lO7 17s 10d : 'Motupiko, £298 12s 3d; Wangapeka, £321 5s 0d ; Dovedale, £152 15s Od : Motueka, £B4 15s 0d ; Moutere, £l3l 18s Od; total, £1472 5s Od. The total expenditure on main highways, 1933-34,.at 31st March was as follows :—Wangamoa, £1720 Is lOd ; Stoke £IOOB 8s lid; Annlebv, £1406 6s 3d: Wai-iti. £1442 11s lOd ; Motupiko, £853 17s Id- Wangapeka. £999 15s lid; Dovedale. £866 2s 3d : Motueka, £1267 3s 2d; Moutere, £2107 7s lOd; total, £11.681 15s Id.

ENGINEER’S REPORT

The County Engineer (Mr W. Bulhvantl reported for the month as follows: Wangamoa Riding: Gravelling has; been done on the Maitai road, Todd s Bush, Glen and Dodson’s, road. The lower portion of the Maitai road lias been graded and unemployed relief workers are still engaged on the upper portion of the road. Work authorised in the construction of a ford on the Upper Teal road to relieve the bridge of heavy traffic has been put in hand. A little patching has been authorised on the Wangamoa Hill, and scrub will be cut back. Stone will be quarried as opportunity offers in the pit on the top of Wangamoa Hill for patching purposes during the winter. Stoke Riding: On the Jenkins Hill main highway the contractor has completed the foundation, and sealing will he commenced when the road has been trimmed and consolidation of the foundation has taken place. It is proposed to topdress the ■ bitumen between the junction with the Tahuna-Richmond section of the highway and the Quarantine road intersection.' Gravelling with metal from Boorman’s Valley stream has been done on several of the by-roads. Stringers and decking on Glen’s bridge on the Enner Glyn road have been renewed and the deck level raised. Unemrelief work is being continued on nan s Valley road. Appleby Riding: A considerable amount of screened gravel from the bitumen contractor’s crusher has been-done on byroads in the Hope and Ranzau district. The work of renewing defective decking planks on the Appleby bridge is being carried out as convenient in conjunction with other bridge repair work. A start has been made wit-lr formation work on Hitchcock’s road* Appleby. Water tabling and maintfenS | anco repairs are being done on the Ap-pleby-Jubilee bridge main highway. A small bridge partiaily burnt on a byroad at Waimea West has been renewed. Unemployment relief work iri widening the Serpentine track to dray road width is proceeding and should shortly be completed. A settler lias requested the widening of the Boding river road at Lyons rock, and something could possibly he done here on completion of the Serpentine track work. Wai-iti Riding: The gravelling con-

tract on 88 Valley road has been completed The contract for the second coat of bituminous sealing on the main highway through Wakefield has been completed. The twin three foot pipe culvert ou the main highway near Mrs Baigent’s residence at Wakefield has been completed. Unemployed relief workers are engaged in cutting back corners on the Dovedale Saddle. A partially burnt bridge at Ploughed Gully, ,88 Valley road, has been repaired. Gravel patching has been done on Hoult’s Valley load. The reforming of the upper portion of Borlace’s road is in band, unemplovfid relief labour being employed. Gravelling has been done on River terrace, and patching on Mount Heslington and Wairoa Gorge roads. The second coat spraying of 50 chains of main highway was completed on '9th April. Timber for repairs to the Lee V alley bridge will be delivered shortly. Motupiko Riding: Pile-driving is now in hand on the Higgins Creek bridge contract which is proceeding satisfactorily. An old wooden culvert which collapsed on the Pretty Bridge valley road has been replaced with 18 inch pipes. The contractors have commenced work on the small deviation of the Old Tophouse road at its junction with the Blenheim-Hopo Junction main highway. A little patching has been done on the Korere-Tophouse road. Together with the riding member the engineer inspected the various matters in the Stanley Brook district. The riding members has asked me to supply the metalling costs in this district for tile last 12 months, and I have to report that 941 cubic yards of metal have been spread at a total cost of £147 16s 6d, or nearly 3s 2d per cubic yard. Wangapeka Riding: Together with tlie riding member the engineer had inspected various matters throughout the riding. Sites for the proposed bridge over the Dart river have been inspected, limber has been ordered for a truss bridge near Mrs Green’s, Tui. Repairs are now in hand on Hewitt’s road bmlge and the gang will go on to Donaid s Creek bridge and the Tui bridge immediately. A little patch metalling has been authorised on the TadmorGfephope road. Tile gravelling authorised ou the Wangapeka Plains road has been completed. Further flood damage lias been sustained on the Wangapekaiiaton road, the road being again badly scoured following the last rain. Poverty Creek bridge, Sherry road, has been repaired, and a small motor bridge on the lapawera-1 adnior road lias bad stringers and decking renewed. Dovedale Riding: The fords of the ana Little Pokororo rivers on the Motueka. river west bank road were washed out during the rain. Repairs mivo been carried out and an additional v ire crate will be put in below the Little J okororo crossing. Pipes have been delivered to replace a collapsed wooden culvert on the Graham road. The gravelling contract on the Baton Valley road is nearing completion. Motueka Riding: Crushing operations m the luwaka river are proceeding satisfactorily, and metalling on the highway through Riwaka and the lower poriion of (lie Takaka Hill is nearly com- • pleted. Owing ( 0 the difficulty ' of obtaming gravel about 200 yards of crush-, ed metal will be used for patching on tile Umukuri and one of the other byroads. The rotary gravel screen was I moved into the Motueka river from! Kina beacli in an endeavour to screen ' out tlie larger stones and sand, but the j

output- of small gravel was so poor that operations were discontinued after one day’s trial, and the screen pulled into the pipeworks yard at the bridge. The gravelling contract on the upper five miles of the Takaka Hill has been proceeding satisfactorily. Tlie Riwaka-Sandy Bay gravelling contract is taking a long time to complete, hut is proceeding as well as can he expected owing to the difficulty of obtaining gravel to specification. The scarcity of suitable gravel in the Riwaka district during tlm past three years has been a. considerable handicap to road maintenance. The work authorised on the Brooklyn Valley road lias been completed, but was of course not nearly enough to put the road into even fair order. Rains during the month have caused a subsidence of the wire crate abutment to the second Brooklyn bridge. The decking has been stripped from the bridge, the renewal of which is in hand. The fordway at this bridge has been attended to, and made passable. A large slip following the recent rains has been removed from the Brooklyn road hut I understand that there arc a number of slips down oil the newly-constructed portion of this road. The metalling, contract on the Rocky river-Shaggery road was completed early in the month. Unemployed labour has been engaged on the Shaggery- ' Sandy Bay and Takaka Hill roads, A little grading will he done on the* Takaka Hill road shortly. The MotueknKoliatu main highway has been graded and running decking ‘lias been delivered for the bridge on the road near Mr Knowles’s property. Moutere Riding: Gravelling on the Appleby-Jubilee bridge main highway j has been completed. A small bridge at the junction of Marriage’s road and the main highway has been replaced and a small bridge near Nuttall’s, on Gardiner s Valley road, lias been renewed. The bridge near Price’s corner on the Neudorf road lias been repaired, also a small bridge on Sunrise Valley road. With regard to the application of H. R. Best for permission to dig a ditch along his frontage # to Waiwhero road, I have inspected this, and see no objection to the settler's request b?ing granted, i During the last rain the road surface on the Neudorx Hill was considerably washed, and repairs have been carried out.

The report was adopted. The County Traffic Inspector (Mr J. Brough) submitted his report for the month of March. A large number of cases ar e pending hearing in the Nelson and Motueka courts for various breaches of the Heavy Mote” Vehicles regulations. To facilitate the issue of driver’s licenses in May the Inspector is to visit various parts of the county on certain days. The County Clerk reported on the arrangements made for the conversion of loans and the suggestions were adopted. CORRESPONDENCE

The Minister of Finance wrote acknowledging the receipt of the Council’s request for the Government to grant a subsidy for a rebate to county ratepayers as was done for the year ending 31st March 1932) The letter was received. The Public Works Department, Wellington, forwarded a copy of Order-in-Council exempting the south-east side of the road fronting section 75, block 3, Waimea Survey District from the provisions of the Public Works Act 1928. The Main Highways Board wrote declining in future to subsidise tools used by local authorities. The letter was received. (Proceeding)

shown as follows Cr. £. s. d. Waimea Conntv Fund A*c. 7610 5 3 Bridges Loan 19*29 Ac.... 1908 16 4 Bridges and Plant Loan A:. 7 5 Contractors’ Deposit Ac. ... 172 8 6 Interest Ac 209 0 2 Land Fund Ac 268 0 11