ASHBURTON.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1164, 3 November 1917, Page 5

ASHBURTON.

COUNTY COUNCIL. From Our Own Correspondent. The last meeting of the Ashburton County Council, as at present constituted, was held on Friday. There were present: Crs ('. .1. Harper (chairman), W. G. Gallagher, T. Dohcrty, Geo. Murdoch. W. Morgan. C. Reid, .Ino. Cairns, A. Drummond, T. Lill, and TT. .T. Harrison. In connection with the engineer's report on the water-race system, which ] was adopted, the chairman said the lupins in the Rakaia riverbed were becoming n serious obstacle. It would be very costly to open a' new irrigation channel. In reference to the supply of timber, Cr Lill stated that he believed the council should ilimit hundreds of acres of bluegums which in the future would provide an ample supply of good timber for the engineer's use.—lt was decided to buy bluegum locally. The Timaru Borough Council asked j the council to appoint delegates to at- j tend a conference at Timaru on November 16 to consider what steps should be: taken to expedite the extension of electrical energy to Ashburton and South Canterbury from Lake Coleridge. The engineer and Cr Lill were appointed to attend the conference. The South Rakaia Road Board asked the council to proceed with the piping of the water-race at the vicarage corner. —lt was decided to supply 10ft of piping. At the after-luncheon adjournment Cr Morgan presided. The tender of W. Patching of £l4O for 2800 dog collars was accepted. Accounts amounting to £K>OO were passed for payment. THE YEAR'S OPERATIONS. Mr C. Morrison reported on the year's operations, stating that the water supply had been efficiently maintained throughout that period. The distributing races had been extended 40 miles and 1066 ft of concrete pipes had been supplied for motor bridges, most of which were now erected. The short age of labour and the increased cost of fencing had stopped any new work in connection with the county reserves beyond general maintenance. Although extensive rabbit-poisoning campaigns had been carried out, the rabbits appeared to prefer the refuge of the plantations where trees had been blown down to their previous haunts, and it would be advisable to enclose the worst of these reserves with rabbit-proof fences. Eve hundred and sixty-seven permits had been issued for cords of firewood. A report was received giving the registrations that had been made during the year, and included, dogs 2527, motor cars and cycles .°>o9, traction engines 77, and vehicles 02. Eighty-seven prosecutions had been made for breach of the traffic bridge by-laws. The chairman reported that during the year the council had made the following: grants:—-Methven Domain Board £:»0, Plunket nurses £2O, Ashburton Domain £12.1, Trench Comforts Fund £3OO, High School £IOO. and Red Cross £250 per month. During the year Cr .T. C. N. Grigg had resigned. W. G. Gallagher was elected to the vacancy. Owing to the high cost of material the work in connection with private telephone lines had not been gone on with. A motor car had been purchased for the use of the engineer, and the council had recently decided to shorten the traffic bridge, which work was at present in hand. MR HARPER'S RETIREMENT. Tn the course of a farewell speech, Mr Harper said he regretted having to relinquish, on account of his health, his position on the council, of which he had been a member for over .'!0 years, half of which period he had occupied the position of chairman. He referred to the many early settlers with whom he had been associated, paying a tribute to their fine work on behalf of the county, he trusted the future councillors would continue that work. Various members of the council paid tributes to Mr Harper's work, speaking eulogistieally of his valuable services to the council.

CONTRIBUTING BODIES CONFER.! A conference of representatives of : the Christehurch City Council, Lyttcl- ( ton, Woolston, and Sumner Borough i Councils, and the Canterbury Automo- ' bile Association was held in the City Council Chambers yesterday afternoon, ! to consider the furtherance of the construction of the Christchurch-Lvttclton Road. The Mavor of Lvttelton (MrjW. T. Lester) presided. • A letter received by the Lvttelton Borough Council from the Minister of' Public Works was read. The Minister] stated that if it had been possible to I complete the work for a moderate sum he would have done so. It was quite impossible to allocate some thousands of pounds for the work. The expenditure of £4OO or £SOO on the road would not benefit anybody. Mr L. A. Stringer (town clerk, Lvttelton) said that the 'Minister "had given his word that the work would be completed, and he should stand by it. Mr J. T. Norton said that Lvttelton had put the best part of £IOOO into the work of making the road, and it now seemed likely that it would never pro-1 gress any farther. Mr P. R. Cliinie (Automobile Association) said that the Government could find the money to give bonuses to civil servants and vote £SOO for repairing a cairn. The Minister should be reminded that he had committed a breach of agreement. Their money was tied up in the work, which now showed no signs of completion. After several motions had been drafted, it was finally decided to forward the following: "That this conference is dissatisfied, with the reply received from the Min-j ister of Public Works. The contribut-! ing bodies made their final contributions on the distinct understanding that the work would be carried on to completion, otherwise the money would not have been paid over. Having paid over the money as agreed upon, the contributing bodies call 'upon the Government to fulfil its pledge to complete the work, without further delay. The question of the money available cannot now be. introduced. The tone of the Minister's reply suggested that the cost of the completion of the work will considerably exceed the estimate; but, in the face of the promise, the Minister must assume the responsibilty in regard to the estimate, irrespective of whether that estimate was above or below actual cost."