CONDITION OF KEW ROAD

Southland Times, Issue 23180, 22 April 1937, Page 12

CONDITION OF KEW ROAD

To The Editor Sir.—Tourists and visitors to our new hospital are not favourably impressed with the condition of Kew road. Surely it is time the Hospital Board had electric lights erected on Kew road from Elies road to Bluff road to make an approach in keeping with an up-to-date institution. There is a lot of traffic now and two bus services on these corners, and the dark road makes it unpleasant for women and girl visitors at night, as well as unsafe. The matter of a decent footpath, which is long overdue for ratepayers on Kew road, could be attended to at the same time. —Yours, etc., DISGUSTED RATEPAYER. April 20,1937. •

[The Kew hospital is situated within the borough of South Invercargill. When this letter was referred to the South Invercargill town clerk (Mr E. Smith) he said that his council had provided no street lighting within its area, except to pay half the cost of a few lights on streets bounding the city area. The provision of lights to the hospital could not be contemplated without facing the problem of providing lights in the whole of the inner area of the borough. He contended that the road leading to' the hospital was being maintained in a fair and reasonable condition and said the council had no intention of allowing it to fall into disrepair. The council had no funds at present with which to construct a footpath and he did not think that the council would be able to provide a footpath this year. The council had very little revenue, the total of rates levied last year being £537, of which £489 had been collected. Out of this all of the ordinary expenditure of the council had to be met. Mr Smith mentioned that the council derived no revenue from the 90 acres of land owned by the Southland Hospital Board at Kew and received no special benefit from the existence of the hospital in its area.]