INGLEWOOD COUNTY

Taranaki Daily News, 3 August 1932, Page 12

INGLEWOOD COUNTY

MAINTENANCE OF ROADS MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. ENGINEER REVIEWS WORK. The monthly meeting of the Inglewood County Council was held yesterday, when there were present Councillors R. Stuart (chairman), S. Laurence, J. Hunter, ML N. Willans, J. Grieve, F. S. Burson, H. R. Jones, G. W. Gibson and A. E. Cowley. The engineer (Mr. S. C. Judd) reported that owing to crushing work being done with the power grader tractor, the grading of riding roads was considerably curtailed. Norfolk Road west had been patched at the mill end with 19 cubic yards of hand broken metal. Upland Road had been graded and the water-tables cleaned. Johns Road had been patched. The Kaipi Road had been graded, the drains had been cleared and a culvert lowered at the junction of the road. The survey and necessary consent for acquiring the land for the Durham Road deviation had been completed and Mr. Wheeler had donated the land free of charge. A good alignment could be obtained at reasonable cost and a start had been made "with the work last week.

On Tariki Road the Manganui pit store had been chipped and cleared and 362 cubic yards had been crushed and deposited on the road. The- remaining portion was patched and rolled. On Ross Road 46 yards of chips had been spread, the road also being rolled. The soft clay portion in the Motukawa Road had been stripped and the bog h<:e filled with stone. Forty yards of boulder originally torn out-of the road was hand-broken and stacked for maintenance purposes. The Norfolk east and Rugby Roads had been patched and the water-tables and culverts had tent cleaned. On Surrey Road 128 cubic yards of concrete had been chipped and spread on the road, which had been rolled.

Oapui Road had been graded and a decayed wooden culvert had been replaced by a new 9-inch culvert. Otaraoa Road had been graded, the slips and scrub being cleared’. On Ngatoto Road, water-tables and outlets had been cleaned. On Pukemahoe Road the fern and water-tables had been cleared. Toro Road had been graded, a culvert lowered and outlets cleared. On Taramoukau Road water-tables had been cleaned and scrub cut. Mr. Oxenham’s road had been cleared of scrub, Water-tables had been cleaned and the road levelled.

METAL FROM QUARRY.

Kaimata north and Bristol Roads had been graded. Arrangements had been made with Mr. Cheyne to obtain surfacing from his quarry for Wortlcy, Richmond and Lincoln Roads. The quarry had been stripped and would be ready for surfacing work at an early date.

Lepper Road had been graded and a ■parking place constructed ?at Kaimiro Hall. On Dudley Road east at Newton King’s galeyards the parking place for cars on each side of the road was formed and metalled and the road banked where required. On Junction east bitumen had been patched on Bathurst’s flat and widened at Che corner with extra metalling. The remaining I’B miles were graded and patched, water-tables cleared and fern cut back where necessary. Egmont and Junction west Roads had been graded and water-tables and outlets cleared. Bitumen had been patched and shoulders metalled for a further distance. Shoulders were graded and patched from the borough boundary to the Waiwakaiho. The bridge approach at the Waiwakaiho was lifted. Mountain Road shoulders had . been graded and rolled for the entire length and the portions from Tariki towards Wai■puku and at Dudley Road were built up. White curves were painted at Rugby Road crossing and at the Waiongona •bridge approach. " Good progress had been made with the Mangaone Stream bridge, and the structure, was completed with the exception of painting. Difficulty was experienced in- obtaining a test foundation for the first pile, although it was driven. 20ft Gin, but the remaining piles were cradled and the necessary bearing power was obtained. With the chairman the engineer had attended the meeting of the District Highways Board to deal with the current year’s estimates. The amount recommended as the council’s allocation from the board was £3065.

Regarding surveys for acquiring of land, etc., the Durham, King and Roddy Roads were about completed and so far satisfactory arrangements had been made to obtain legal titles. Much work had been necessary to secure the best economical alignment at the King Road, and he asked that the west riding members inspect the route before the work was commenced.

Reporting as ranger and inspector Mr. Judd stated that the road frontages in a number of cases had not been cleared of noxious weeds yet and that neglect would be treated firmly. "With the ■number of unemployment relief men working on the farms there was no excuse for the neglect, and action would ■be taken within reasonable time; EGMONT PARK ROAD. Mr. L. W. Lovell, secretary to the Egmont National Park Board, asked whether the council would be prepared to take over the maintenance of the lower mile of metalled road in the Egmont National (Park reserve at the top of the Egmont Road. He also asked to be notified of the cost of putting the road, in order and the annual charge for maintenance.

The engineer stated that he had inspected the road in company with Ur. Gibson. The road appeared to be in good order but there was the difficulty of keeping the water-tables clear. He proposed that when the power grader was working on Egmont Road it should be sent into the National Park reserve

with two men to grade the length of road. He could estimate the cost of that work but before giving an estimate of the cost of reconditioning it would be necessary first to test the depth of metal. It was resolved to notify the Park Board that the engineer would forward an estimate of the cost on the lines suggested, the cost price only to be charged for. In the event of any strengthening being -required that would have to be arranged for. VISIBILITY AT CROSSINGS. At the request of the South Taranaki Automobile Association the Taranaki Association drew attention to the necessity for improving the visibility at the approach to the Waiongona bridge, going from Lepperton towards Inglewood, which was obstructed by a bank. It also wrote with regard to the Norfolk Road crossing, the visibility at which was obscured by trees. The engineer said he was not sure whether the bank at the Waiongona crossing was on the road or the railway. He had placed white curved lines at the scene. Cr. Cowley considered that the railway bank at Norfolk Road would be more troublesome than the trees. The engineer was instructed to look Into the matter.

The Taranaki Local Bodies’ Association notified that as the outcome of a conference between the New Zealand Counties’ Association and the Electric Power Boards’ Association with regard to the -apportionment of the cost,of the removal of electric -power poles an arrangement had been arrived at with a view to avoiding litigation. In the case of operations involving the removal of fewer than ten poles the cost would be shared equally with the county council and the power board, but in .the case of more than ten poles the matter was to be settled by arbitration. -, The Unemployment Board forwarded £229 16s M as a refund for unemployment wages for the two weeks ending July 2. The Takapuna Borough Council notified that it had forwarded an emphatic protest to the Prime Minister against the action of the Government in not availing itself of the provisions of the New South Wales Interest Reduction Act, 1931, in view of the fact that some months ago both the Crown Law Office and the Audit Department insisted upon local bodies availing, themselves of the reduction.' The council pointed out that litigation was pending on the matter.

Messrs W. R. Moir and C. IV. A. Mathews were granted permission to carry out their boundary fences closer to the road line on the Bristol Road. The former wished to control weeds and the latter had a man on the small far.n scheme who would be glad of the extra land. Both applications were granted.

Messrs A. J. Scott, F. L. Standing and H. Perrott waited on the council and asked permission to be allowed to cart logs on a portion of the Bedford Road, also Surrey Road, in excess of the amount -permitted -by the regulations. They pointed out that such permission would enable them to employ ten men. They offered either to pay 9d per 100 feet royalty or else make good any damage caused to the road. The council decided to permit the carting on payment of Is per 100 ft royalty, the conditions to be left in the hands of the engineer.