PROPOSED NEW ROAD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1212, 24 May 1895, Page 32

PROPOSED NEW ROAD.

MEETING AT KAIWARRA. A meeting of the residents of Kaiwarra was held in the Public Hall on Monday to consider the proposal to form a new road from Kaiwarra to Khandallah, via Crofton. The Mayor of Onslow (Mr M. H. McCarthy) presided. There was a large attendance of the public. The Chairman said the object of the meeting was to devise ways and means for the construction of the road. It had been talked of for many years, and the time had now come when it was necessary to carry out thejproject. It would be a great boon to the district, and it would be of a very easy grade, whereas the road at present serving Khandallah was so steep as to be a great drawback to the progress of that district. He denied that he had any personal interest in the construction of the rosd, and only wished to carry out the wishes of the ratepayers. The work would cost about =£2ooo. and his idea was to raise a loan which would be sufficient, with a grant from the Government, to carry out the scheme. If a deputation asked the Government to assist the scheme in the same way as they helped the Queen’s Drive project, he believed they would receive a favourable reply, and that the Government, in view of the large number of persons at present unemployed, would be only too glad to afford them assistance. He was generally opposed to loans, but he did not think a loan in this case would be any hardship. They hoped to get <£1250 from the Government, and the amount of interest required for <£looo would be <£ss, to pay the interest on which it was proposed to strike a rate of :fd. That would produce £95 9s, and if a sinking fund was not required it would only be necessary to strike a rate of £d. If they refused to have this road made for such a small increase in the rates they would be doing themselves an injustice, because if the road was made the value of property would be very much increased. Bub perhaps it would not be necessary to strike any extra rate ik all. The interest on the first year woulw be paid out of the loan itself, and it was possible that after the road was constructed the ratable value of the property would be so greatly increased that the interest might be paid out of the ordinary rates. The route the road would take could not yet be definitely decided upon. The Government were to be asked to make a rough survey, and that survey would give them some idea of the cost of the new road.

Mr A. H. Gibson proposed the following motion : —“ That the Borough Council of Onslow take the necessary steps to raise £2OOO through the Government for the purpose of making a road from Kaiwarra through Crofton to Khandallah, the rate to be struck towards meeting the interest on such loan not to exceed M in the pound, and to be levied upon the security of the rates in the North and East Wards.” He remarked that although they might pass this resolution, it did not necessarily follow that a £d rate would be struck, but that id was the largest rate that could be struck in any contingency. If the Government refused their assistance the ratepayers would be asked to sanction a loan of £2OOO, so as to get the work carried out in any event.

Mr A. Littlejohn seconded the motion. This, he said, was the time to do the work; there was no obstruction in the way, as properties were being cut up all along the route, and if the road was not made now it could never be made except at a very great cost. Kaiwarra was the natural distributing centre for the district. The present

toad was too steep, but if this outlet were made the place would improve to such an extent that in a few years it would be quite unrecognisable. Under these circumstances it was their bounden duty to support the proposal. Councillor Durrell ashed how the estimate of .£2OOO was arrived at. The Chairman said he believed it was got from previous surveys. He did not imagine any compensation would have to be paid if the road was made at the present time. Replying to Councillor Cavanagh, he said Wadestown was not interested in this matter, because there was no communication between Wadestown and the proposed road, so that it would be unfair for the South Ward to be taxed to pay for it. Councillor Cavanagh contended that the road would benefit Wadestown as weill as Kaiwarra if a bridge was put over the Kaiwarra stream.

Mr C. Aplin contended that it would be one-sided to make a road at the expense of only two of the wards of the borough. A show of hands was then taken, when the Chairman declared the proposition to be carried. Mr Gibson moved : —"That the Borough Council be instructed to approach the Government at an early date with a view to getting the Government to make a survey of the best practicable route for such road, and to obtain a rough estimate of the cost of the same, the result of such survey to be laid before a meeting of ratepayers of the North and East Wards as soon as completed, and failing the Government meeting the views of the Council, that the Council appoint its own surveyor.” The motion was seconded by Councillor Holmes, and carried. Councillor Cavanagh proposed that a committee be appointed to approach the land-owners with a view to inducing them to make a grant of land for the road. The Chairman ruled the proposition out of order. Mr Gibson proposed that the Mayor, Messrs Aplin, De Castro, Littlejohn and himself, with power to add to their number, be appointed a committee representing the ratepayers to act with the Borough Council in approaching the Government with a view of obtaining the said survey and estimate.

The motion was seconded by Mr G. McArtney and carried. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.