PATEA COUNTY HISTORY

Taranaki Daily News, 12 November 1929, Page 12

PATEA COUNTY HISTORY

FOUNDED ALMOST 53 YEARS

EARLY ADMINISTRATIVE WORK. AREA OF 600 SQUARE MILES. ' Patea County Council is the oldest j county council in South Taranaki. It ' is nearly 53 years since it was con- , stituted, the first meeting being held at j the Carlyle Courthouse , on January 4, 1877. . This meeting was attended by 1 Crs. T. Kells, J. Livingston, G. S. Bridge, . G. F. Sherwood, W. P. Kenah, J. Winks, Middlemas, E. Al. Honeyfield and W, Dale. Cr. Kells was made first chairman and Air. F. Cowern was appointed clerk pro tem, Air. J. Black being’allotted that office at the following meeting at a salary of £250 per annum. The council applied to the Government for the use of the Immigration Barracks, where meetings were held for many years afterwards. One of the, first things decided upon was to invite I tenders for the county’s banking ac- I count, the tenderers to state the amount of interest they would be prepared to allow on current account. The tender of the Bank of New Zealand was accepted. The chairman thereupon resigned as chairman. Cr. Widdlemas took the chair pro tern and later in the meeting Cr. Sherwood was elected chairman. Patea county comprised a very large area at that time, extending from the Waitotara River to the foothills of Alt. Egmont, being bounded by the Taungatara River in the west and taking in Omoana in the east. Alost of the land was then unsettled and *it was decided to request the Waste Lands Board to urge the Government to make Patea a land district and to appoint an officer at Patea for the sale and leasing of waste lands. The appointment of a foreman was the next matter to be dealt with, this appointment also being made by tender. The offer of Air. R. Joyce to do the work for £ll7 per annum was accepted,

but after two months he resigned and Mr. W. C. Wright was appointed at £156 10s per annum. ’ At this time Patea was without rail communication, so it was resolved to urge the Government to construct without delay the line from Kai Iwi to Carlyle, adopting the inland route in accordance with the surveys made by Mr. Hogg or Mr. Hursthouse. It was also urged that the line be immediately pushed on to Inglewood.

EARLY LOADING PROBLEMS.

In September the council expressed a desire to receive its land revenue without deductions for harbour works, and it was resolved to petition the Legislature to have the borrowing power of the Taranaki Harbour Board confined to within the boundary of the Taranaki County.

Among other early business the council decided to accept the trusteeship of the Manutahi cemetery, to hand over the recreation ground at Waverley to the Waverley ■■ Town Board and to ask the Government to give the council power to lease the reserves at Mokoia and Okutuku for a period up to 21 years. It was further decided to ask the Government to vest in the council all lands reserved for general purposes, the council to have power to lease for long terms under restrictions. The main road from Waitotara to Taungatara was declared a county road and Is in the £1 on rateable property was the first rate struck.

In January, 1878, the council made objection to a move to stop the survey of the Waimate Plains expressing the opinion that such stoppage was inimical to the best interests of the county. In fact, it called upon the Government to open these lands for settlement as soon as possible. There existed an opinion that the Plains were unsuitable for settlement.

The maintenance of the Waitotara boundary bridge was another worrying problem and it was decided to inform the Wanganui County Council that unless this body paid the whole cost the Patea council would have to consider the question of erecting, a toll gate to meet the expense. At a later date a toll was established to collect a toll of £1 per load on gravel passing over the bridge from the Patea side. It was also proposed to pay a bonus of £lO for the discovery of suitable gravel for roadmaking. The route of the Mountain Road caused much discussion and finally it was decided that this should go from the corner of Waihi and Ohangai Roads through the town of Normanby; also that the deviation known as Carrington’s deviation be adopted in accordance- with the Government’s desire. It was decided to allot a certain portion of county revenue ; received from the town of Hawera to be expended in improving the main road through that town. I By December, 1878, it became the in- | tention of the Government to con- 1 struct immediately • the railway to 1 Stratford, so the council urged the necessity of spending all available funds in making the road from Stratford to Normanby in order that through traffic might be secured before the winter. SMALL LOAN INDEBTEDNESS. A loan of £BO9O for metalling Ball Road was raised in 1911, another £lOOO f for Lower .Ball Road being obtained in j 1921. Both loans have proved good investments. In 1914 a commencement with laying tarred roads was made under the supervision of Air. Wright. Since then these roads have been extended to a distance of 28 miles. Several small loans have been raised for improvements, but the total loans now outstanding amount to only £20,612, the net indebtedness being only 0.52 per cent, of the rateable capital value. This is one of the smallest percentages of local body indebtedness in the Dominion and it is a striking example of works being carried out principally by revenue. In 1928 values were revised the latest schedule being:— ‘ : i

The area of the county is 594 square

miles, there being 596 occupied holdings each over an acre in extent. The average holding is approximately 640 acres in area and the population of town and county 5265, which gives an average density of 8.86 per square mile. The total area in cultivation is 206,896 acres carrying 245,627 sheep, 40,493 cattle, 5562 pigs and 2546 horses. Following is a list of chairmen, members and chibf officiate of the county since its formation. In this connection it is interesting to note the length of service of Mr. E. C. Horner as county clerk. He has occupied the office for 38 years.

j Chairmen. G. F. Sherwood 1877-78. G. S. Bridge 1878-79. Felix McGuire 1879-80. W. Dale 1880-82. i F. M. Chapman 1882 (6 months), j R. Horner 1882-87. Walter Symes 1887-96. W. C. Symes 1896-1906. G. V. Pearce 1906-21. G. Gibbs 1921-29. W. G. Belton 1929-. Councillors.—T. Kells, J. Livingston, G. S. Bridge, G. F. Sherwood, W. P. Kenah, J. Winks, Middleman, E. M. Honey field, W. Dale, J. Davidson, W. J. Furlong, R. Wilson, W. Milne, Felix McGuire, R. Horner, W. A. G. Winchcomb, King, Partridge, W. Brewer, J. Gane, A. Hunter, C. A. Durie, T. W. Fisher, F. M. Chapman, E. J. Morgan, J. O. Taylor, R. W. Foreman, A. Howie, M. O’Sullivan, J. Hair, J. Paterson, I. Lupton, T. H. Nicholson, Walter Symes. D. Fleming A. Strachan, W. C. Symes, G. Death, J. Riddell, junr., G. V. Pearce, J. W. Thurston, J. Peat, O. Symes, W. van Asch, R. Bremer, A. Wilford, W. Derrett, A. W. Curry, O. J. Hawken, E. J. Wilson, S. Blake, J. Kennedy, J. Walker, D. Johnston, W. Klingender, W. B. Cave, H. G. Dickie, J. Coomb, A. Smith, E. A. Greager. J. Gibbs, W. G. Belton, Spicer, L. Hamilton, J. Hurley, J. R. Taylor, G. McGregor, M. R. Murphy, A. Elmslie, R. G. Scown, W. H. Watkins, J. F. McDonald, F. Hooper, F. O. Matthews, D. Sutherland, W. Back, G. H. Alexander, 0. E. Johnston, J. Lupton, J. Peat, junr., R. J. Watt. Clerks.—J. Black (1877-82), E. C. Horner (1882-1920), W. F. Shield (1929 to date). Engineers. —Mr. Herbert (1909-10), A. H. Wright (1910-17), J. C. McLauchlan (1917-22), G. W. King (1922 to date).

Cap. val Unimp. val. Riding £ . £ Moumahaki 822.670 471,619 Otoia .. 1,649,272 1,024,065 Kapara .... 258,203 67.216 Waverley 780,513 488,273 Total ...... .. 3,510,658 2,051,173