UPKEEP OF HIGHWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20465, 17 January 1930, Page 12

UPKEEP OF HIGHWAYS.

COUNTY'S POLICY CRITICISED

attitude of the board.

INVESTIGATION OF POSITION.

[BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN COTtTIESPONDENT.} THAMES. Thursday.

Suggestions that the time was at hand when it should "Stop all works and call tho bluff of the Main Highways Board, were made at the meeting of the Thames Count v Council this afternoon, when a letter was read from the resident-engineer to' the Public Works Department, Mr. A. P Grant, enclosing comment from the chairman of the Main Highways Board. The comment was as follows

"The position regarding maintenance in the Thames county is most unsatisfactory. While the board admits that tho county has generally received good reports as to thi! condition of its highways, the position as far as finance is concerned should not have been allowed to drift in this manner. Tho board has decided that the whole position is to be investigated by an officer who will bo detailed for the' work.

"In tho meantime, as it is undesirable that the highways should be allowed to go back, maintenance should be carried on as usual and tho board will meet any expenditure over and above tho amount which the Thames County Council is shown to have available at present during the interim. This in no way is to be regarded as agreement on tho board s part to find the whole of the additional maintenance between December and the end of the financial year."

Necessary Maintenance Only. It woultl be observed, stated Mr. Grant, that the position was to be reviewed by an ofiicer of the board at an early date. The council was therefore requested to arrange for "necessary maintenance -work to ensure that highways do not depredate. Only the absolute minimum of maintenance is to bo carried out until the inspection has been completed, when final arrangements will be made." The report of the engineer, Mr. J. Higgins, on the main highways, was that during the time maintenance was discontinued on the Kopu-Hikutaia main highway corrugations had developed info ruts and it would be very difficult to reinstate the surface to its former condition. The surface of the coast section of the main highway could never again, without heavy cost, be restored to the good condition it was in prior to the time maintenance ceased.

Replying to Mr. Courtney, the clerk, Mr. D. Mackay, said an official of tbe board had investigated the council's books, and thought he had found ways and means of effecting economies in certain directions. The position was that tho board had promised to foot the bill for maintenance until tho official investigator's report was made available. " Council Paying the Penalty."

The chairman, Mr. H- Lowe, said the council was now paying tho penalty fov "a penny wise and pound foolish policy." It was a false economy to starve the roads of maintenance for the sake of a farthing in the pound rate. Mr. Courtney: You arc starving 120 roads to feed 20 miles of main highway. Mr. Lowe: The trouble is that you are too mean to 'rate your riding for maintenance works.

Mr. Courtney: It is not a question of meanness. It is a question of what we are able to afford. Mr. Lowe: You arc better off now than fver you were. We were delighted to receive a pound for pound subsidy. Then it was increased to £2 for £l, and then to £3 for £l. On top of this wo got a grant of £SOOO, and still wo are not satisfied. . "It seems to me the council is afraid to make a stand against the board," said Mr. Courtney. "The time lias passed for kid glove methods, and wo should have put our foot down long ago. The Waikato County Council has done so and got £SOOO in the end. You must admit, Mr. Chairman, that we have been unfairly treated by the board. The first time" it came to this council it absolutely denied owing us £33OC for a long period When confronted with correspondence it had to admit its mistake, which the ratepayers had to pay for." Agreeing that this was so, the chairman repeated his assertion that the starving of the main roads of maintenance, which also affected the cost of metal at the council quarry was a "penny wise and pound foolish policy.