SUMNER NOTES.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 229, 31 October 1914, Page 13

SUMNER NOTES.

REDCLIFFE ASSOCIATION. J The Sumner Council held a special j meeting oil Friday night for the pur- i pose of discussing municipal matters j with the Redeliffs Progressive Assoeia- j tion. The Mayor, Mr C 4. W. Smithsoiij j occupied the chair, Crs G. Brewer, T. Boulton, Laurenson, M. T. Whitfield, B. Rank in, and E. G. Woods being pre- j sent. The Mayor gave his reasons for call-1 ing the meeting. He said the assoeia-.;. tiou asked for a special meeting.of the ; council so that there would be plenty ; of tin;e for a discussion. It gave him | great pleasure to be able to accede to! their request., and lie hoped that good : would result, and some of the misunder- ' standings at present would cease to ex-; ist. Mr A. W. Beaveii, the president of tlie association, thanked the council for their courtesy in holding a specia; ;v- that Pedeliffs had

1 : ; : not been fairly treated in the past, both in regard to expenditure and necessary work in their portion of the borough; Tbe causeway and the blasting of the cliffs, which were of no material benefit to Redcliffs, were to be proceeded with without Redcliffs being able to say anything in the matter, and as a ratepayer he strongly objected. Redcliffs required drainagej lighting, a town hall, and a recreation ground. There was nowhere to hold meetings or socials unless they went to the school or a private house. There was no place for the boys to play football, or cricket, and there was no chance of getting them, or any help from the council in the matter. Sumhad a town hall which Redcliffs ratepayers had to bear the burden of, and which was of no use to them whatever. The only, remedy, was for Sumner to make Redcliffs a separate ward, so that they could control their own affairs. The way things were run was factory to the association.' Things had come to such a state that the members of the association wanted to break away from Sumner and from -the Heathcote County- Council, but lie would like the council to give the matter their ear. nest consideration. Mr 11. Yates, secretary of the Progressive Association, pointed out that the membership of the association was 125 male members, which, lie considered, showed that affairs wanted seeing into. The grievances of the ratepayers in Redcliffs had been long and he thought the time had arrived for j better treatment. What they wanted was that all the money collected in Redcliffs in rates, less overhead charges, should be spent in Redcliffs. If Redcliffs was made into a separate ward with three members, they would get better treatment. Under the present system they could only get members on the council by the aid of Sumner votes,

which was entirely unsatisfactory. The ' footbaths in their district Tyere in a shocking state in the wet Aveather. The , amount collected in rates last year was £934, and of that amount £4OO was - spent in Redcliffs. The street lighting was very bad, the lamps being dirty and ill-lit. . ■ . Mr Rowe said that the footpaths in Redcliffs were in a shocking state.-The council workmen had chipped away the weeds off the paths, 7 and screenings with' v. it. No more screenings had been put , - on, when it rained • the footpaths became a quagmire, while those who walked on the road in the dark stood a good chance., of getting drowned or breaking, their limTrs.. The causeway would not benefit Sumner, it was only to make it safer for visitors. The Mayor, in reply, said that he would have the matter of forming Redcliffs into a, separate ward placed before the council at an early date. In : | regard to expenditure he Considered that Redcliffs had got more than their ; share. There were 14 lampfe in the -dis- > trict, seven of which were erected last., vu. year at a cost of £2B. The,total spoilt, in street lamps - last year was £64 6/-."" Regarding the £4OOO loan that the council raised for public works, £763 had been Spent in .Bedeliffs. The total rates \ collected in Redcliffs last year amounted to £9Ol 19/4, the amount expended being £1491 8/6. During the present year the amount already passed for payment for works in Redcliffs was ' over £SOO. He pointed out that, there were several roads in Sumner that .had had no money spent on tlieni since ISB7. - A copy of the balance-sheet now being , prepared would be sent to the association as soon as possible.