PETONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5667, 15 August 1905, Page 2

PETONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

; A HOAD DIFFICULTY. The Petone Borough Council met last . evening. Present Tho Mayor (Mr G. : London), and Councillors Mucfurlaue, . Wakoham, Findlay, Bastings, McEwan, • Nicholson, Coles and Alexander. Two cases of scarlet fever in the borough were notified. A communication was received from the Department of Roads complaining that the roads on the Mauugaraki estate, within tho borough, were not being propcrly maintained. A resident on the estate complained of tho same subject; and several other departmental letters dealing with th© matter were also road.—The i Mayor stated that the Council considered it had a grievance in this matter. When tho ‘‘Gazette” notice was issued uotiiying tho handing over of the roads to the Council, th© latter objected to the transfer on the ground that the roads were in a bad state of repair.—Councillor Macfarlano said the matter was one in which tho Council should take a decided stand. Where private individuals were concerned the Council had the protection of the Municipal Corporations Act, but the Government did as it pleased. There was no quarry in the vicinity of the settlement from which metal could be obtained for the roads. The plea that rates were collected by the Council on the settlement mattered little. There were other parts of the borough on which rates were collected, and tho Council was prevented spending money on tho roads leading to such land by the Municipal Corporations Act. Tlio Council should tell the Government to keep the roads until they wore properly formed.—lt was agreed that the subject matter of Councillor Macfarlanc’g remarks should be forwarded to 1 th© Government, and pointed attention drawn to the fact that tho Council ob- , jected strongly to tho gazetting of the i roads when it took place. I Councillor Hastings moved: “That this Council arrange for legislative powers to enable the taking over and maintaining of all private streets, of a width of not loss than 40ft, in Petone; provided tho expenses incurred are paid hy the land-owners interested, and that before such streets are taken over they are properly farmed, kerhod and drained at the expense of such owners,” Ho said he had brought she motion forward particular;? in regard to Keen’s subdivision. ■ Councillor AVakchain seconded the motion, which was carried. The engineer was instructed to bring up a report on the cost of planting tho Pi-ton© beach with suitable trees. The Gas Committee recommended that consideration of th© question of tho ©ale of the gas plant to the Borough of Lower iiutt sh>uld be deferred until next meeting.—Adopted. It was resolved to ask Mr T, M. AA Tilford, M..H.R., to do everything in his power to expediate the pasJago of the Potono Empowering Bill.