ROAD IMPROVEMENTS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16507, 7 August 1919, Page 5

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS.

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL’S LOAN I’RUi‘OSALS. MEETINO AT II [LLSBOROUGIi. A meeting of comity ratepayers in the Hillsborougu district was Judd at the hail on Tuesday evening, wiun Mr. JS. Connett, cimuiy chairman, outlined toe County Council's tat loan piope.,sal» and appealed to these pic.-eur, to ndl up at the poll and to record Halt votes iu favour of the Joan. Mr. Id. C, Sampson presided. :di', Connett, at the outset, said they had had an experience in the W altar.i Hiding of what a tattl'd road meant, because they had to travel over that

stretch which was laid down for experimental purposes alone; the Waiwakaiho llat. Another piece oi road "'as also laid down in the Oumta Riding. 'lhose two stretches of road wore laid down under dillerent methods. 'That in the Omata Riding; was the most expensive of the two, and' whilst he admitted that this had to fatly a much gvcaier amount ol heavy trulllc than the Waivvakaiho fiat, .-till' the latter had proved the most satisfactory of the two. If the mr lean was carried it was estimated Unit the crpenditure would he spread over a period of four years. Toe loan was la ire:: pre,portioned' out among the dilferer.t ridings, and the w.,cl; in each instance would commence from the New i lyiimuili boundaries, workin" outwards. Dealing with Ihe council's reasons for Triaging forward' the loan proposals, ,V.r, Connett said they would all have realised that the ordinary macadamised road would not carry the traffic it v-as called upon to carry to-day. They bad to ho frequently ro-eoated. and this, liecould assure them, was becoming an increasingly expensive item. At 1 lie same time available .supplies of molal < ere also getting scarce, and the council bad come to the conclusion, therefore, that it was advisable, indeed that it was imperative in the interests of the ratepayers they represented, that some other m eUuid sh onld be adopted, and they had decided on tar sealing. Concrete roads had been talked about, and many of them had a loaning that way. but when they came to consider the cord, and aVo the lime it would occupy to re-lay the main roads in concrete, they felt they were not justified in going to that expense, apart altogether from ihe fact that they won! ! not he able to do anything like justice to the by-roads in the meantime. The estimated cost of laying down iiie main roads in concrete was LMOtil) per mile, so they could easily estimate how costly it would be, and the time rjiat would be occupied in doing the work-. Ultimately, no doubt, concrete would be laid along the main roads at any rate, but they felt that to attempt anything of that nature just now would bo placing too heavy a burden upon the ralepnyci, who was already heavily taxed. As he had said, it was estimated that they would be able to complete the tar-sealing of their main roads in four years, and after this was done the coat of upkeep would hose materially reduced that they would have a much larger sum available for improving the side roads and keeping them in eder. lie quite recognised the council rvegmsed that they had to rob the hyreatls at the present time, in order to maintain the main road, the cost of which, as lie had intimated, was very heavy, and one of their reasons in bringing forward the proposals, therefore, was to assist the man on the by-roads. Continuing, Mr. Connett pointed nut that the enured had no alternative but to increase the general rate this year. It would have been impossible to keep ihe main reads iu a docent state of repair otherwise, and the tar loan would moan a still further rate, but the members of the County Council were determined, so far as they were concerned, that the whole of the burden should not fall upon their own ratepayers. They' had to carry a tremendous amount of outside motor traffic over their roads, and they considered it only fair and just that that traffic should contribute something towards the upkeep of the main loads. Ratepayers generally, ho was sure, were behind the council iu its wheel tax bylaw, notwithstanding tho great stir there had been from outside, and, so far as tho motorist was concerned ho felt equally confident that ho would gladly pay the tax if he was to have goods roads over which to travel. Tarred roads meant less wear and tear, and therefore reduced cost of upkeep of vehicles and' greater comfort in moving about. Many would, an doubt, have preferred toll-gates, but tho council knew there was no ehauco of obtaining permission to crc-ct these, owing to the opposition of the Borough of New Plymouth. They had previously tided to get a toil-gato in order to raise revenue to repair the W’aiwakaiho Bridge when one of tho piers was threatened, but the opposition from New Plymouth jwa* so strong that they wore blocked, and this had resulted in an expenditure of morn than treble the amount than would have been originally necessary. Proceeding, Mr. Connett said ; the reason there was .so much opposition ; to the wheel tax from outside local j bodies was because they had not the power to levy a similar mx, except ; Clifton,_ and they already had a tollgate. which teas, no doubt, bringing them in more revenue than would a. wheel tax, i even if they had adopted such a course, i Mr. Connett stressed the point that the ■ wheel tax was in the interests of the I ratepayers of tho county. It was the duty of Iho council to save tho ratepayers qs much as they possibly could, and this the council was doing in putting on tho wheel lax, because whatever revenue was derived would go to relieve too rate on tho tar loan. Uurthor. it I ivas felt Hint if the council exercised its powers in this respect it would probably (orco _ the hands of the Government in bringing in a Dominion scheme wliich had been so long delayed. Mr. Connett also stressed the point that although the council was talcing the necessary slops to make use of the powers vested in it, they intended to make the hv-law as fair and equitable as they possibly could in its operation. A number of questions wore asked and answered, and satisfaction was expressed that the council had stuck to its guns w 7'Ogard to the wheel tax. It was contended that, seeing that tho Egmont Road was called upon to carry so much tourist traffic, it should bo included in the loan proposals. thanks was accorded to Mr. Connett.