TARANAKI COUNTY AFFAIRS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 November 1932, Page 5

TARANAKI COUNTY AFFAIRS

MAINTENANCE OF IROADS

’ Present financial position.

' MONTHLY MEETING OF COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting of the Taranaki County Council was held at New Ply* mouth yesterdaywhen there were pre* sent Crs. J. S.’. Connett- (chairman), W. Hall, W, jD. . Cartwright, R. Wood, S. Vickers; E. Carby and W_. Thomas. The chairman repotted that arrangements had been ffiade t 6 metal the south side of. Allan’s hill, Main'South Road. ' Cr. Thomas said a great improvement had been effected. The chairman And riding members had met the Okato Domain Board and I had agreed to the pipes near the baths being deviated, the Domain Board to find five additional pipes and do the work to' the satisfaction of'the overseer. With, the riding member's the chair- ; man had met Mr. W. Bint in regard to providing, access to his section on the Waitara River.’ Mr. Bint had agreed that owing' to. the c*st the matter would have to _bb .deferred. ■/> The chairman said that with the riding members \he had met the settlers interested 'in the Mangaone drainage. The district railway engineer was present and . arrangements had been made to deepen the ’ railway portion by relief labdur,’ and’the’ men would’start on Monday. The .chairipan thought that would bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. The carpenter; the. overseer'reported; had been repairing whares, drays; metal elevator " and gorse ' grader,’ renewing lagging on. the traction engine, painting the mechanic’s garage, Waiwakeiho, repairing decking on Waiwakaiho bridge, Junction Road, and had made a start building the York Road bridge. . In the' Mangqrei. riding relief , work widening and grading had been done on Kent and Hill Roads. The surfacemen had been, engaged clay and silt .blinding and attending to water-tables on * most of the ’ roads in the riding. In the. Waitara riding ' about' 400 yards of gravel had been quarried, by relief work .in Hellier’s pit, Corbett Road. Corbett. Road from, main road to the Mangaoraka bridge had been scarified, shaped, and rolled. The surfacemen had been silt and clay-blinding, attending to water-tables and culverts bn Te Arei, Smart, Egmont, Henwood, Waitara, Corbett, ■ Wortley, Richmond, Mandtahi, Cross and Ackworth Roads Tri thb Okato riding the-side tracks on the main highway at Allan’s Hill had been widened, re-metalled , ana blinded. A considerable amount of Pheany, Road had been chip blinded. A start Kid been made with the crushing''- at - the Frankley . Road pit, the i metal being used for re-metalling portions of Frankley Road. Clay and siltblinding had been done and watertable* and culverts attended to on practically all the-roads-in the riding. The motor roller had been scarifying , and rolling Pi tone,, Greenwood and Lower Plymouth Roads. The fence at the northern "’side- of Hoani Road adjoining the main highway had been shifted back as suggested. Asphalt patching and banking had been done on . the Lepperton Junction-Hawera highway. The surfacemen had been attending to water-tables' and culverts, silt and clay-blinding on Puniho, Hoani, Oxford, Dover, Leith, Perth, , Pi tone, Timaru, Ahu Ahu, Surrey Hill, Plymouth and Ko'ru Roads. The .’.overseer was instructed to re- , port on the/request of Mr. • J.-Schinkel : in regard to the lowering of a culvert on Hoani Road. The inspector’s attention was drawn to .the ;weede on frontages on' Mangorei Road.’‘ J ‘ . .-. • The taverseer is to investigate ■ the matter,, of metal from Cole’s pit on i: the Carrington Road.

--. . INSPECTOR’S REPORT. - The county inspector (Mr. R. Aroa) reported that his time had been occupied with general inspection duties and unemployed work on farms. The railway crossing signs required renovating. One sign was down and another damaged., He had. inspected' loads ana licenses on motor-lorries and had found tS all in order. He noticed that drivers of lorries were exercising more care with regards to allowing overtaking traffic more room to pass than had been the case, in the. past. MotoA iste on the whole had npt caused any trouble during the month. No cases had been - before the- court during thft month, and only one was pending for an unlicensed driver. During the month fees totalled £26 2s ,9d (heavy ’traffic licenses £3l Os 9d, motor drivers’ licenses £5, driving fees.2s). . , f The mechanic (Mr. A. D. McNeil) reported in detail on repairs to tic - plant. ' ■: - • '/ , . . The county clerk (Mr. R. Ellis) submitted a statement showing the following balances available for expenditure iff the various ridings : with the amount available at the same date last year in parentheses: Mangorei riding £1603 10b (£2070 9b -8d), Waitara riding £3209 2s 5d (£4517 16s Id), Oniata riding £B6< 6s 7d (£1267 13s lid), and Oka to riding £2120 4s lid (£2074 ,15s 9d). The bank overdraft at October 31 was £4740 3s lid, as compared with £5676 19s 6d on the same date last year. ; ~,. Mr. W. J. Crane waited on the council and complained that since the construction of the overhead abridge at Waitara the water had been turned in to his- property at Big Jim’s Hill. The complaint was. referred to the overseer. ■' The Taranaki Automobile Association notified that the: practice of ..painting the road with white lines .at corners as a- guide to ..traffic was appreciated by motorists. It had been pointed out, however, in the course of discussion that where a curve in the road led on to a one-car j bridge, the painting of the roadway might create a source of danger rather than safety. The Commissioner of Unemployment advised that the Unemployment Board approved of the metalling of York Road under scheme No. 5, the provision of scheme 5 labour to be the total extent of the liability of the board. The Conservator of Forests forwarded' a schedule'for fifths amounting to £1 2s 6d that had accrued to the council from State forest revenues. The council decide'd to spend the money on Sanders Road, from which the royalty was obtained. The Main Highways Board notified approval of the following subsidies for maintenance work on a £3 to £1 basis: E<rmoiit Road, 6 miles 13 chains, £420 16s 7d; Junction Road to Waiwakaiho River, 6 miles 19 chains, £132; Mountain Rotid from Waitara-Waiongona stream, 8 miles 3S chains, £123; Car- ’ rington Road, 3 miles 2 chains, £97 Ils sd;‘ Dower Mangorei Road, 2 miles 2 chains, £93 5s lid; Lepperton Junction-Hawera, via Opunake (Lepperton Junction to Puniho), 22 miles 40 chains, £431 3s 6d; Ngamotu Road, 1 mile S chains, £24; Oxford-Sanders Road, 5 miles 4 chains, £2OB Is 6d. Mr. P.'Keller (Highways Board’s representative) notified that the board had agreed to the bitumenous- surfac-

ing of the approaches to ■ the overbridge being proceeded with. The board would prefer the work to be done by contract, but in view of the fact that it was not very extensive, had agreed to its being done by the council’s own staff.

The New Plymouth Borough Council notified that a committee had been appointed to confer with representatives of the Taranaki County Council

with the object of amicably reviewing the arrangement between the two oils regarding the distribution of the fees for heavy traffic licenses issued m their respective. districts. The chairman, Crs. Vickers and. Thomas were appointed to represent the council. The Egmont County Council notified that it had decided that its classification of the main highway from Oeo to Punihfc. should remain. As z community

of interest from Opunake northwards was with New Plymouth, it should necessarily follow that the classification should be- identical. The Egmont Council forwarded a copy of the report of the committee which, met the committee from the Taranaki Council regarding . Puniho Road. The committee’s report recom; mending the Taranaki Council’s proposals to metal 40 chains - of the, road

above the factory was adopted and it was also agreed ■to contribute up to £l's towards. the metalling of 12 chains of Lower Puniho Road, Mr. Moffitt to provide the boulders, which would be broken by . relief labour. It was decided to ask the Government that the full .benefit, of the recent cuts made in. connection with the Health . and Audit Departments be passed on to the council.