County Councils Conference.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11718, 19 July 1901, Page 2

County Councils Conference.

THE COUNTIES BILL. | PER PBESS ASSOCIATION. | Wellington, July 18.— At the County Councils Conference to-day, it was resolved that tho revisi g committee be instructed to make it quite clear that local bodies will still have power to borrow money under the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act. The Conference unanimously agreed that the returning officer and clerk to the Licensing Committee should be appointed by the County Council or Councils concerned, instead of by the Government. The amount available for extraordinary expenditure was increased from £50 to £100. Considerable time was spent in considering section 25 of tho Bill, giving County Counoils arbitrary powers for dealing, with roads, their construction and maintenance, outside the Public Works Act. Several clauses which were considered too stringent were struck out.- The chief question was as to how town districts and rural districts would be respectively affected by certain clauses referring to the cutting up of land into allotments and roading it. Section 200, providing that in certain cases the Government may declare a road in a borough to be a county road, was struck out, the Conference being unanimous on thiß point. It was also resolved to .strike out section 330, making county councillors liable for penalties for laying out roads less than the usual width. • Wellington, July 19. — Amongst other amendments to the Bill this'morning it was agreed that power be taken to compel owners of land to have budh felled within a chain of boundaries of roads where it involves danto the road or to the travelling public. A proposal to strike out tile provision for tollgates on roads was negatived, but funeral processions were exempted from tolls. Piggeries were not included in the list of general nuisances. It was decided that counties be given the same powers as boroughs in regard to nuisances,