GREAT NEW PLAYMOUTH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 183, 5 August 1903, Page 2

GREAT NEW PLAYMOUTH.

We do not hold oursalvea responsible for ' opinions expressed b; correspondents.]

I 10 THE EDITOR. Sib, —The suggestion which was 1 made in your oolumns somi time ago, i in regard to the above proposal, re- 1 seived strong confirmatory evidence in i tha meeting of the County Council held on Monday last. The Chairman 1 reported negotiation of an agreement 1 with the Borough Council in regard to 1 the upkeep of the County road at Fitz- i roy. Does not this fact indicate that the time has come for some change from the condition of things existing previously ? Conceding this, does not the new agreement) introduce an element of dual control over a main line of arterial communication —a posi'ion which is always liable to create faction. The result is that in cates of 'his kind the public suffer whilst the contending lacU bodies are settling their differences. The necessity of bjrough extension is more strongly emp'i.aaUed in connection wi h the prepjsed new bridge at ll*nui, That ram-shackle sttucture has b:en a menace to the sifety of both lite and property for miny years. I suppose it has remained i.i its present dangerous condicion, because it belonged to one local boly. If a fs'al accident hid occurred, the controlling parties would have been clearly li ible for damages. At Monday's meeting, intimation was sent to the County Council that the Borough intended to proceed with the work, and to recover half the cost from the Co-inty. The la ter body have taken a divergent attitude, and a pro 'ess of negotiation is t> be entered upjn, There is no telling how long this miy continue. In the meantime, the long suffering pub ic have to endure imminent dang r and liability to serious accident, I~ is an old s tying that " f imilarity breeds contempt," and that proverb' hss evidently bli:,ded the eyes of tha pub ic, as %hosfl of the local bodies concerned to the frightfully dangerous condition of tha man-trap, describ d as the Henui bridge. In the interest of all pirties couciirned, the extension of th'j borough is ope of the most pressing reforms which the present condition of things not only suggests, but demands.—l am, etc, I Resident.