WAIHEMO COUNTY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22630, 23 July 1935, Page 12

WAIHEMO COUNTY

Monthly council meeting . The monthly meeting of the Waihemo County Council was held at Palmerston yesterday, when there were 'present:— Crs G. Ross (in the chair), A. Purvis, W. Ritchie, H. S. Sheat, D. J. Ireland, I). Ross, W. Matheson, G. Sutherland, and J. O'Connell. Before commencing the business of the meeting, the chairman referred to the loss suffered by the district in the death of Mr William Porteous, who had been an old boy of Palmerston. Mr H. Garvin, an employee of the council, had also died since the last meeting, and members stood. in silence as a mark of respect to their memories.

CORRESPONDENCE. Mr F. H. Gibson applied for a permit to make additions to the Green Valley Hall. —The permit was granted. Messrs F. Hayes and G. Roy wrote drawing the attention of the council to the dangerous state of the roads in their district. On one road all the culverts were broken, and the entrance to it was so wet that it was almost impassable in rainy weather. The county ditches along another road were overgrown with grass, causing the water to overflow on to the road. —The matter was left in the hands of the members for the riding to be dealt with.

Mr Andrew Harvie (Nenthorn) wrote asking for some improvements to be made to Nenthorn road, which was badly in need of metal and grading.—lt was decided to reply«that a grant had been obtained for the road and that if funds were available gravel would be spread. Mr A. Wood wrote asking permission to cut down trailing branches on the oak trees in the plantation reserve at Dunback for use as firewood.—Permission was granted, the work to be carried out under the supervision of the members for the riding. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer (Mr A. A. M'William) reported as follows on the work done during the month: — Blue Mountain Riding.—General/ surface work has been carried out on Guffie’s road, and pipes have been put in on Janet’s Peak road. M’Hean’s road has been graded and gravelled where required and Jones’s road has been graded to M’Leod’s gate. Rubbish and willows have been taken out of the river at Switchback bridge, the road has been_ widened at Grange crossing, and maintenance gravel has been spread on Pagan’s and Factory roads, loot planks have been put in at Cook’s, Jones’s, M’Hean’s, and Wedge’s crossings and the crossings filled in. Meadowbank Riding.—Grading and general surface work has been done on Taieri Peak and Hughes’s road,_ but some maintenance gravel is still required. The main highway has been graded from Palmerston to Bowker’s, and work on the rocky bond past the flourmill is almost completed. A rough piece of road near Robbie’s requires blinding with clay and gravel and scarifying throughout, as the crown is getting foo high. BUshey Riding.—General surface work has been done and maintenance gravel spread on Walsh’s, Shag Point, Bushey Hill, and Chisholm’s roads and on the Puketapu Hill near Watt’s. Grading has been done on the Christchurch-Dunedin highway, and maintenance gravel has been spread where necessary. Gravel has also been spread on the Bushey-Palmerston highway near the Shag River bridge Goodwood Riding.—Surface work has been carried out on the various roads.

Maintenance gravel has been spread on Crossan's road, and a 12-inch concrete culvert has been put in on the Goodwood Settlement road near Goodwin’s.

Dunback Riding.'—Water tables have been attended to on Blackie’s road, and maintenance gravel has been spread oh Campbell, Sweetwater, Jones’s, and, Wood’s roads, and on: the footpaths at the school. New danger, signs have been put at the Sweetwater Creek road and at the Dunrobin bridge.. Green Valley Riding.—The groynes at the crossing at M'Leod's’ were strengthened, as the last flood had changed the course of the creek, and a protection fence has been put dp at the lower side. The approaches at the Waihemo crossing are now being proceeded wiiih. Maintenance gravel has been put on the. Red Cutting, and extra gravel has been put on the side of the road to be used when necessary. : Macraes Riding.—General work has been done on the Macraes-Moonlight and Dunback-Macraes highways, and a start has been made on the bad corner at Tipperary Gully. The corner of the road at Deep Dell has been improved and gravel spread. Several culverts Lave been broken by the traction engine and require new covers. A load of gravel on these culverts would improve the surf ace, considerably. : ; ■ The report was adopted. TRAFFIC INSPECTOR’S REPORT.

The group traffic inspector (Mr Peter Laughton) reported that the regular inspection had been carried out in Waitaki, Waihemo, and Waikouaiti Counties, Maniototo and’ Vincent Counties were visited between May 27 and June 2. During the month of June two cases of breaches of the by-laws were heard before the magistrate at Palmerston and Oamaru. The checking of drivers’ licenses had been commenced, and would be earned on throughout the counties and borough in the group as soon as possible. Thirteen head of wandering cattle had been removed from the highway in Waitaki County and three in Waihemo County. The report was adopted. WANDERING CATTLE.

Mr A. M’Laren waited on the council to protest against wandering stock in the Goodwood Riding. While driving on the Goodwood road, he said, he had struck a cow and broken its leg. It was purely an accident, but he wished to point out that cattle had been on these roads for years, and it was time something was done to remedy the matter., With the amount of traffic on the roads at the present time it was necessary that motorists should be able to, pass along the roads with eonie degree of safety. After Mr M’Laren had withdrawn from the meeting Cr Ireland stated that there was stock wandering on those roads - night and day. Mr M’Laren was right m ms statements. —Cr O’Connell asked _ if the council could not take action against the owners of wandering stock. The time had arrived when the public should ceive some measure of protection. Despite warnings, the stock nuisance had not abated, and it had now become a positive menace. —It was decided to draw the ranger’s attention to the complaints that had been received, and to inform him that unless the roads were kept clear of wandering stock drastic action would have to be taken

GENERAL. The chairman and Mr M‘William were appointed the council’s representatives to attend a meeting of all local bodies included in the distribution of heavy traffic fees by the Dunedin City Council, which would take place on July 30. It was decided to forward the following remit to the annual conference of the New Zealand Counties’ Association to be held at Wellington:—“ That the system of voting at Hospital, Power Board, and Harbour Board elections be on the same basis _ (on the valuation) as the county elections.” The countv ranger’s report, stating that 16 head of cattle had been removed from the Dunback road, was adopted. FINANCE. Accounts amounting to f 632 Is 7d were passed for payment.