WAIROA BACKBLOCKS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19247, 12 February 1937, Page 4

WAIROA BACKBLOCKS

BIG ROADING SCHEME £IOO,OOO MENTIONED COUNTY COMMITTEE SET UP (Special to the Herald.) WAIROA, this day. Following a tentative suggestion by Or. A. G. Nolan, the chairman, at a meeting of the Wairoa County Council. that the councillors should think over tlie question of a big roading scheme for the back-blocks, Or. D. V. Thomas, Waikaremoana riding, brought up the matter at Wednesday's meeting of the council in Wairoa. Cr. Thomas said that while they were thinking big things progress was languishing and costs were rising on every hand. The county valuation was £3.500,000 and the county debt only 7 per cent. He considered that if the debt was raise 3 even to 10 per cent and they got capital up to £IOO,OOO or even more, made up of loan and Government funds, allocated for back-blocks roading they could carry out the bitumen scheme for the Nuhaka road and metal the backblock roads so that the settlers could ijefc out to the main highways without first having to plunge through mud as at present. They bad been relieved of £2va/J expenditure on the main highways, which would be spent in interest on the required money, and the settlers, besides not having anything more to pay than at present, would be able to get in and out of their holdings in safety and at reduced costs. Every day councillors were being hauled over the coals, and it was now time for action. He would like to see a sub-committee set up to get something going as soon as possible.

PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS

The chairman said this was a big thing, and it would take five months or so to prepare the details. Cr. Thomas replied that he also looked on it as a big thing, but as it must take time the sooner they got to work the better.

The clerk said there was a good deal of engineering work to he done first to enable the proposals to be formulated.

Cr. W. Tait said he agreed with all that Cr. Thomas had advocated, but they must get a stone-crusher at work in these back-block areas, for knapping metal was now a thing of the past. Cr. Thomas said they would not need to get any plant, to have it left on their hands when the work was done. The big contractors would carry the work out with their own plant. Cr. A. T. Carroll said it.was time they began to put county matters on a better basis. They had, he contendedr done well in the past- with the means at their disposal, but the labour conditions were now forcing them to take a long range view, and proceed to give greater satisfaction to the ratepayers than they could give out of the rates. If they went on as they were doing now they would be no better off and the time had arrived to give the matter of roading in the back-blocks the most serious consideration possible. The work could be done by using the savings to oay interest. This was the only way to solve their difficulties, and to this end they should use the contract system, so' that tbev should not, at the end. be landed with a lot of plant for which they would have no use. He commended Cr. Thomas for taking the initiative.

The chairman : I am with you all the time.

Cr. Nolan added that the prelimin aries would take about sis months.

URGENT RELIEF URGED

Cr. S. Dickie said that as a backblock settler himself he could endorse all that Cr. Thomas had said. It was no end of a shame that where there was a good metalled highway running past a man's holding he should not be able to get out. to it. They should make this big' effort to give the back-block settlers this most urgent relief. Cr. Dickie added that he felt that the acting engineer was overworked, and he suggested that they ought to get him some assistance, mentioning a suitable man. The clerk said it would be in the province of the committee to be set up to make this recommendation. The following committee to prepare the scheme for the- roading of the backblocks of the county was set up : —The chairman and Crs. D. V. Thomas, S. A. Dickie, and A. T. Carroll.