PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 10 July 1929, Page 6

PATEA COUNTY COUNCIL

MONTHLY MEETING HELD. WIDENING OF MAIN ROAD. Pate a county affairs were discussed at the monthly meeting of the council at Patea yesterday. Mr. W. G. Belton presided. ♦ The report' of the engineer (Mr. G. W. King) to July 8 is:— Main Road and General. —Beyond ordinary surface work, cleaning watertables and removing a few small slips, there is nothing to report on the main, road. The steam roller is moving towards Patea and will be used on a few metalling maintenance . jobs on the Lower Kaharoa, Kakaramea station and Ball Roads towards Hurleyville. The crude oil roller has been ordered through the Main Highways Board.

Otoia West.—Metal for the repairs on the Kakaramea Road has been ordered and the work will be proceeded with as soon as the roller is available. Metal patching has been carried out on the Hursthouse Road and some of the more recently metalled roads have been blinded with chips. Upon completion of the Kakaramea Road it is proposed to move the roller on to the Bull Road and proceed with scarifying and metalling while metal supplies are available.

Otoia East. —Metal has been coming to hand and has been carted to the Matukaroa hall and Niagara Roads. A small portion has been metalled on the Hukatere Road and the four chains authorised on the Otauto Road is being proceeded with. Waverley Riding.—The short lengths authorised to be metalled on Pepper's and Hunter's Roads have been completed. Repair metal has been spread on Hickford frontage and metal is coming to hand for repairs on the Lower Karahake Road and Reardon’s hill, on the Rangikura Station Road. Moumahaki Riding.—A considerable amount of claying and sanding has been done on McGregor's, Tukc, Strachan’s and Brewer’s Roads. A commencement has been made draining some low-lying sections on Motoroa (Okutuku) Road and three culverts have been put in on this section. Crushed pit metal has been spread on the Valley Road at Ngutuwera. It has not been possible yet to complete the extra eight chains authorised on the block IX. hill. The heavy weather during the month caused three culverts to be washed out, one on the Valley Road and two on the Waikare length. These are being attended to. The outfall to the culvert near the Waitotara school has been made good and a 'small amount of draining done in the vicinity. The side of the road near the Waitotara Hotel has been' made up. Crushed pit metal for repairs on Upper Henson hill hr.s come to hand and will be spread as soon as circumstances permit.

Kapara Riding.—The metalling on the Lower Waitotara Valley Road has been abandoned until the spring. The first half-mile above the county boundary has been patched with shell rock. Several slips have come down on the Upper and Lower Waitotara Valley Roads, and have been attended to by the surfaceman. MAIN ROAD REPAIRS. - The proposed, inspection of the main road in the county had been made, stated the chairman, and it was suggested that certain portions of the road be widened on one side by three feet. He was of opinion that in the future it would be found settlers would be using motor vehicles for the carriage, of milk and other goods, and the reduction of horse traffic would lessen maintenance as far as the sides of the roads were concerned. He thought 15 feet was a sufficient width. Cr. Gibbs said both sides should be done so that wheel traffic could not go off and damage the sides. That as much damage was done by bad weather conditions ae bv traffic was the opinion expressed by Or. Scown. The chairman interjected that even if the road were 18 feet wide milk traffic would still off the tar in certain places, especially where the tar was slippery. He thought that priority should be given to widening work, as little earthwork being done as possible. With this Cr. Watkins agreed, at the same time expressing the opinion that the council should proceed cautiously on main road work. Crs. Lupton and Watt voiced the opinion that the expenditure on the main road should not be undertaken at' the expense of the side roads in tho county. The chairman assured them that that would not be the case. The sum of £3090 was allocated for the widening of six miles of road to a width of fifteen feet, £2475 for widening and £525 for re-sealing and general maintenance, these amounts to carry a £2 for £1 subsidy.

RETENTION OF ROAD ROLLER.

Tho retention of tho county's road roller was the subject of a motion by Cr. Gibbs that the previous motion to dispose of the roller be rescinded. lie had doubts, he said, as to the wisdom of disposing of the roller, because he wanted to be sure that the lighter machine could do the necessary work. Widening work would have, to be done thoroughly, especially in view of the development of motor traffic, and he thought the council should keep the present roller until it was satisfied that' the lighter machine would fulfil requirements. The chairman said that to keep a large plant was uneconomic if it were not required. What they desired to be certain of was that they had a machine which could do all the work, At the same time he did not wish councillors to do what was not right if they thought both machines should be retained. He was in favour of having one machine, even if it meant getting a heavier one. Crs. Watkins, Wait and Scown expressed the opinion that the present machine should be retained. After further discussion tho chairman, seconded by Or. Johnston, moved, that disposal of t'ho present roller be deferred pending a satisfactory trial of the new roller. This amendment and Cr. Gibbs' motion were carried.

Regarding the size of the roller, the

opinion of councillors was that the sixton machine was preferable, to be weighted if necessary. The striking of the following rates was confirmed, the allocation having been made at the previous meeting:— Otoia riding, Id in the £; Waverley riding, Id in the £; Moumahaki riding, Id in the £; Kapara riding, 2d in the £. The procuring and placing of appropriate road signs was left in the hands of the engineer. The question of diverting water on Mr. Hopkinson’s property was left in the hands of The chairman and engineer, with pow’er to act. Road metal freights formed the subject of a communication from the Minister of Railways through the Minister of Public Works and Mr. H. G. Dickie, i M.P., in which the Minister regretted I that he could not hold out any hopes ( of a reduction in the rates of road metal freights. A request from the Patea Butchery Company that a further portion of the Otoia Gorge Road be metalled was deferred until the riding allocations were being dealt with. It was decided to advise the Karahake settlers through Mr. Tennant that • the council could not provide money j out of riding .funds for the re-erection of the Karahaki bridge.