GORE BOROUGH

Southland Times, Issue 22486, 22 January 1935, Page 3

GORE BOROUGH

MEETING OF COUNCIL. The first meeting of the year, of the Gore Borough Council was held last evening, and was attended by his Worship the Mayor (Mr A. T. Newman) and Councillors J. A. Baldey, A. H. W

Aitken, D. L. Popplewell, R. S. Green, D. McDougall, M.P., D., McDougall, jun., A. McLachlan and F. S. Graham. Mr J. Howard, secretary of the Gore Butchers’ Association, wrote drawing attention to the state of the fences and yards at the Gore Borough abattoirs. The fence of the sheep paddock was m a very bad state and there was a danger of losing stock. The sheep and cattle yards were in need of a number of improvements and repairs. The request was referred to the Abattoirs Committee. Eleven ratepayers of the eastern end of Mersey street forwarded a petition complaining of the very great dust annoyance in the street. During the recent spell of hot weather the nuisance had been particularly bad. The petitioners requested that an amount be set down on next year’s estimates for the grading and tar-sealing of this short length of the street.

The request was recommended to the next council for consideration.

Four ratepayers of Ordsall street petitioned the council to have the footpath in this street tar-sealed. The petition, was referred to the Works Committee. . ' Mr Adam Speden wrote complaining that the borough workmen had removed some spoil from the bank in Upper Ardwick street, thus making an ugly hole in the, bank to which the residents objected. Attempts were being made to beautify the spot and the council was requested to see that no further damage was done. The letter was referred to the Works Committee. Water Committee. The Water Committee recommended the adoption of the following, which was agreed to:— Supplementary Water Supply: After discussing the position of additional temporary water supply, the committee decided to recommend that the engineer be asked to take steps to obtain a supplementary supply and furnish a report on where same is available together with an estimate of cost of procuring same. (No. 2 motor and pump to be used if necessary.) Finance Committee. The following recommendation of the Finance Committee was adopted:— Letter from State Advances Department relating to Conversion of Loans: It was decided to pay the instalment due on February 7, also the additional sum of £7 14/2 which would then leave £11,500 of principal owing to be converted. The Town Clerk was instructed to pay the £4 for debenture forms and interest tables as specified in the superintendent’s letter. Library Report.

The Library Committee reported that for the nine months ended December last subscriptions received had totalled £134 10/- (senior library) and £3 12/6 (juvenile library). Sales of books had produced £l5 3/4 and the council grant totalled £175. Payments had amounted to £331 13/7, including salaries £209 3/2, books £54 1/3, magazines £44 7/2, fuel and cartage £9 15/6. The credit balance was £2 12/-. The revenue for the remaining quarter was estimated at £159 6/10, made up of accounts owing £42 16/10, books £35 sundries £lO and salaries £7l 10/-. The revenue was estimated at £l6l made up of the council’s grant £lOO, additional grant £25 and subscriptions £36. It was estimated that the yeai would close, with a surplus of £1 13/2. New books purchased since March 31 last numbered 214 fiction and 23 nonfiction. The number of subscribers at the end of the year was 255 and the number of books issued to subscribers to November 30 was 17,804. The subscriptions for the nine months compared with last year totalled £134 10/(£142 7/6) adults and £3 12/6 (£4 10/-) juvenile. The average number of visitors per nionth was 3900. The committee has received the amount of £lO from the Trustee of the Peter Anderson Bequest to be utilized for the purchase of books for the juvenile section and the librarian had just received the first consignment of these books. , The Mayor read a report from the librarian (Miss D. Slater) concerning improvements desirable at the library. He said the committee had these matters under attention. Councillors agreed that Miss Slater had tackled the work in the proper spirit, and congratulated her on her report. ■