COUNTY BOUNDARIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 227, 7 January 1911, Page 3

COUNTY BOUNDARIES

; CLIFTON, WIIANCAMOMOXA AND . j OIU'UA. y, e [ A di ptitulion, consistinii' <if Messrs. E. I li. Koberton, E. C. Robinson and E. Mantle, waited on the Clifton County Council yesterday in respect to tlie severance, of property from the (iii'lon ~ County and its inclusion in the Whanga- ... momona County. The chairman, in introducing the depuv lation, said the question had come be- \ fore the Council before, and it had been j decided to defer consideration for a year, . their object in doing so being that, with s the prosecution of raiding in the enmity. . and the building of the railway to Stratf ford, settlers would be able to ascertain B more definitely where their outlet would be, whether eastward towards the railway, or westward to the coast.. Another reason for the postponement of the matI ter was that for a -long time there had ' been a lot of talk about the (iovernnient - bringing in a Local (iovernnient Dill, and ' it was intimated that considerable alI terations would be made in the boundar- ■ ics of local bodies. A minor reason also was that the Council had not .sullicieut 1 information before them at the time as ■ to what or where boundaries should ! be fixed ii the alteration was agreed | upon. Unfortunately, the Council was in very much the same position now. The back country was not too well known, and it was hoped that when they met, Parliament in its wisdom would have arranged cither to amalgamate or do away with a lot of local bodies, and therefore what was done'would be final, and there would be no tinkering in the future. There was no doubt that as the position was at present they all recognised that a certain amount of injustice was being done to the settlers in the back portion of the Clifton County, whose outlet was through adjoining districts. He niHr explain that there was no feeling against granting the application as far as he knew. The chairman expressed regret «at the illness of the Council's engineer, Mr. Dowsett, who could have given the Council very valuable information. A PETITION. Mr. Koberton said that the Local (!overument Bill was so long coming that they considered they had waited long enough, and it was time they should take action. He presented a petition from settlers in the northern end of the county, the text of which was as follows: "We, the undersigned ratepayers of the Clifton County Council, respectfully request that you would arrange with the Whanganioinona County Council an alteration of the boundaries of the respective counties so that our properties shall . be included within the Whanganioinona County. In support of our request we ' would state (I) that our centre of business being .Stratford, our trallic naturally converges to the AYliangamomona County; (2) that as the construction of, the Stratford-Ongaruho railway advances there will be a still greater attraction of our trafllc to the Whanganiomona County; (3) that we get absolutely no benefit from the rates we contribute to the Clifton Council, there is no probability of our doing so in the. future, and there is no road under the control of the Clifton County Council within ninny miles of our properties. As this extremely unsatisfactory state of affairs has existed for a term of six to eleven years, we trust that you will negotiate at once with the Whanganiomona County Council for an early adjustment." Here followed the signatures of nineteen ratepayers. A map of the locality was laid on the table for the information of councillors. HOW TO DO IT. There was considerable discussion o» the question. The chairman said he was somewhat at a loss as to the procedure to be followed. If finality was to be reached in the matter of the boundaries, considerable time would be taken up, which should be devoted to the ordinary business. Supposing the Council decided to accede to the request, ho considered a committee should be appointed to go into the matter of what were the best boundaries, and make a recommendation to the next meeting of the Council; and it would be only a matter of them getting the transfers effected as laid down by law, which would not be an expensive matter if the Councils agreed. It could be done in ample time before the rate was struck for the ensuing year, so that .jtere would not be another rate payable on the properties to the Clifton Council. Personally, he would like to get the matter fixed up right .away, but lie did not see how it could he done in any other way than that which he had suggested. In answer to Cr. Kennington, the chairman said his idea was to have a conference with delegates from the Whanganiomona and Clifton Councils. He would like to say that he was not prepared for the deputation, as he did not know they were coming to the. meeting. Cr. O'Sullivan: These gentlemen are not representing the Whanganiomona County, are they? Only the settlers in the northern part of the riding. , We must also deal with the Whanganiomona Council. The boundary suggested is different from what Whanganiomona asked for. Mr. Roberton explained that Mr. .Mantle and himself represented the settlers who had met concerning the matter, while Mr. Robinson and himself represented the Whanganiomona County Council. Mr. Robinson said he had been directed at last meeting of the Whanganiomona Council to attend with the deputation in support, and state that the Council were in agreement with the, wishes of the settlers. They all recognised that a J change was desirable, and as the railway p proceeded the outlet would become more desirable. The suggestion to set up a committee would be met by his Council very favorably, and be was sure they would do all in their power towards furthering the matter. He suggested that g the, delegates should meet at Stratford between the 25th and 30th inst. Further, Mr. Robinson said the proposed line had included part of Ngatimarn road, but at, a present it was rather uncertain whether it was not coming out at another place— Kiore station. IN A NUTSHELL. v The outcome of the discussion was the following resolution, moved by Cr. Sander and seconded by Cr. Musker: That a committee, consisting of Crs. Foreman, Sullivan, Kennington and Julian, be a])- . pointed to confer with delegates from the Whanganiomona County Council re the proposed readjustment of boundaries be- ■ tween the two counties. The date oE the conference was not - definitely fixed, but it will probably be the Ist "or 2nd pros. If Mr. Dowsett is ' men unable to travel to Stratford, the conference will be held at Waitara. A SIMILAR APPLICATION. Mr. P. .Matson, on behalf of Waitaanga | settlers, waited upon the Council in support of an application that their sections should be transferred from the Clifton County to the Ohura County. In support of the. application, Mr. Matson said that the sections were within thirteen miles of Mangaroa. and that the road to Mangaroa was almost finished, and that alftheir trallic would go that way. On the other hand, the distance to Waitara was very much greater and over a terribly bad road, and he supposed they could not expect very much improvement for many years to cpme. The

' proposal was a very reasonable one, and lie hoped the Council would express jts approval and lake the nere-sary steps to •rive ciiYrl to il. lie exjilainei that the i'burn - ounty Council had approved of the proposal. It was resolved that the Ohura County Council be written to, wilh a view to, readjustment of the boundary between the two bodies by transferring the sections named to the Ohura County.