THAMES COUNTY.

Thames Star, Volume LXV, Issue 18241, 15 July 1931, Page 3

THAMES COUNTY.

METTING OF COUNCIL State Forest Encroachment. TOTARA CEMETERY ROAD. BOROUGH AND COUNTY. Mr IL Lowe presided over the July meeting of Uie Thames County Council yesterday, there being present Crs JJ. Courtney, (J. H. Cribb, F. J. McMuhon, \V. Brunton, A. Alley, and J. McCormick. I'JUe County Clerk (Mr 1). Mackay) and County Engineer (Mr Jas. liiggins) were also in attendance. State Forest Road. The Conservator of State Porests (Mr R. D. Campbell) asked the Council to consent to the closing of an unused road in the Tairua district stating that Sections 2 aid 3 of the Crown Land in Block 11., Tairua Survey District, were to be proclaimed State Forests. The Department was, however, agreeable to grant a private road access to T. Wairepo. The Department considered that the present surveyed route was impossible. The Council decided to approve of the proposal. Totara Cemetery Road. The Thames Borough Council wrote forwarding the deed of conveyance from Eruini Heima Taipari to the King for the Totara cemetery Koad. The Borough also drew attention to the fact that cattle were straying upon the road and attributed this to the fact that the land upon the south side was unfenced. The Borough asked the Council to cause this fencing to be done and also to deal with a Taranaki gate which had been erected across the end of the road without authority. The chairman: It seems to have taken them 14 or 15 years to find out we have anything to do with the matter. Cr Courtney asked what business the Borough had to interfere by drawing the attention of the Council to straying cattle. Did the Borough think the County had no eyes? Cr McCormick thought that the Borough Council was the lessee of the property that wanted fencing and from which the cattle were straying. The chairman mentioned that the Borough had spent hundreds of pounds on the road when it was not their property and had suddenly discovered when the cattle strayed that it belonged to the County. The clerk: Oh, it's a case of the new broom —the new Mayor, you know.

The chairman explained that he had been Mayor of the town when the road was handed over. Cr Cribb: Well, it's very good of the Borough to spend all that money on our road. Cr McMahon: Well, they certainly won't get it back. Cr Courtney: Well, it's a riding matter, Mr Chairman, and you'll have to decide whether you're going to fence it. The chairman remarked that the Council had power to compel the lessees to fence. Members considered that since the Borough had moved in the matter of JJencing' the County wo'uld carry it on and see that the lessee did the fencing. The clerk produced the deed of transfer which had been signed by Mr F. H. Claxton as County Chairman and Crs Mills and McCormick as Councillors, in which the Council had to fence. The matter was finally referred to the next meeting of the Finance Committee, on the motion of the chairman. Mining Land and Forests. The Minister of Mines (Hon. A. J. Murdoch) wrote in answer to Ihe Council's enquiry as to the position if a gold-bearing reef were discovered in a State Forest area, that the Director of State Forests had stated that no gold-bearing reef had yet been discovered in such area and that he failed to- see how a statement as to the attitude of the Department in a hypothetical case could be dealt with. In the event of the situation arising the State Forest service would deal with it in accordance with statute law, but lie was not prepared to commit the Department to any line of action, the final decision lying with the Minister in charge. Under the Mining Act. 1926, Section 22, State Forests were subject to the same conditions as Crown Lands, but before any mining privileges were granted the State Forest service was consulted as to whether it was in the public interest to grant any permit and was also empowered to impose any special conditions it thought fit. The chairman remarked that the Minister was only beating the air. The Council's question was in connection with provisional State Forests. The peninsula was a network of auriferous reefs, including ones which ran through provisional State P'orests. The Council's action was taken to safeguard the interests oi' prospectors. Originally the whole of the peninsula had been acquired as a mining area and the State Forests were now encroaching upon it. A place which might produce thousands of pounds' worth of gold avus locked up for the sake of a few hundreds of pounds' worth of trees. In his opinion the answer of the Department treated the Council as a lot of school children. The Council knew as much about the mining laws as the Minister.

Or Courtney also took exemption lo the lone of llio letter. The Council £ot part of its revenue from <yiLl and the Council had spent money

■makings roads for mining. The areas which were gazetted as provisional State Forests were also in the mining area and was it likely that the State Forests Departmei'i would maintain those mining roads'? Cr Courtney pointed out that now there were 100,000 acres locked up in State Forests from prospecting. The Council had not, been consulted when the laud was put under the State Forests.

The clerk said that the Council should approach the Minister with regard to the upkeep of the loads surrounding State Forests. The County got no rates from these Jands. Two freeholds had been acquired in recent times by the Forestry Department and the Count} had lost the rates from these ant! he understood further purchases were contemplated. Cr Courtney asked that the Council's letter to the Minister and 01 its perusal said that the Minister's reply was not satisfactory. Now it appeared that the Council's position was at the whim of some futun Minister. The Council did not kno-. how it stood in connection with fu ture loss of revenue.

On the motion of Crs Courtney, and Cribb, the Council decided t< reiterate its questions to the Minister, mentioning the goldlields rev enue and gold duty aspects of tin question. Cr Courtney also objected to tin Forestry service depriving tin County of revenue from rates whet it acquired freeholds. It was ai injustice to the County and to tin Tairua Riding, which had to main tain 60 miles of roads, much oi which went through State Foresh which paid nothing to the County rates. Collection of Rates. A circular of two foolscap pagesof closely typed matter from the Waitomo County Clerk advocated alterations of the Rating Act to at low the provisions to apply to th' Crown in connection with CroWi Land held under any tenure an. 1 land over which the Crown held ; mortgage. The Council decided to support Ihe principle. Straying Cattle. The Main Highways Board com plained of the prevalence of straying stock upon the Main Highways and suggested that traffic inspector should be given power to impounf cattle. The Traffic Inspector was appoint ed to fill the position. Dangerous Bend. The Waihi Borough Council wroU asking the Council's co-operation ii getting the Main Highways Boar'-. to improve a very dangerous bend upon the Paeroa-Waihi Koad, ai which a young man had lost his life The Council resolved to support the request to the next meeting o 1 the Main Highways Board, if i were supported by a report from tb< traffic inspector. Puru Creek Road. Mr Alexander Campbell wrote on behalf of the Mount Campbell Gold Minnig Coiqpany, asking that repairs be made to the Puru Creek Road to enable him to transport live tons of rails to the Mount Campbell Mine, estimating the cost of the work at £3O. Any work in excess of that amount would be done by tin Company, which had already done enough work on the road to make it usable by pack horses. Cr McMahon suggested that the engineer report on the condition of the road and sec if anything could be done out of the timber royalty money. The engineer and Cr McMahon were given power to act. Rangahso Access Road. The Coromandel County Council notified the Council that it was agreeable to fall in with the arrange nient with Mr Dorran to maintain the Rangahau access road, but pointed out that Mr Dorran was not a ratepayer of the Coromandel County.—Received. Footpath Needed.

Mr E. B. Tizard, secretary of the Kopn School Committee, drew the Council's attention to the necessity for a footpath on the eastern side of the Thames-Paeroa Road between

Kopu Road and the School corner, which would minimise the danger to children from traffic. The majority of the children attending the school lived in Kopu or arrived by train. The engineer was instructed to report on the matter. Fisher and Mackay's Access. The Conservator of State Forests advised that the Department had acquired an area of land through which the access route to Fisher and Mackay's property ran. The present track had a most unsuitable grade and was not a proper track upon which public money should be spent. The Department requested the Council to lay off a suitable grade and legalise a deviation. In the meantime the Department would not plant the area through which it desired the road to go. Left to the engineer and riding member. Wild Cattle. Menace. The Headmaster of the Whanganmta School wrote asking the Council to remove a number of wild cattle which were apparently ownerless and which formed a daily menace to a family of five children who were prevented from attending the school. They had already molested adults and the mother of the children refused to allow her children to take the risk of going to school whilst the cattle were at large. Cr Courtney thought that the police could issue a permit to shoot the cattle. The clerk was instructed to take steps to remove the cattle. Mailman's Request. The Opoutere mail contractor, Mr Savage, asked the Council to pay him for 4J days' work which he had found it necessary to do to make the Whangamata-Parakiwai Road at all passable. He had been suffering some very rough tripfe, having on occasion had to work on the road up to three o'clock in the morning before he could get through. The matter was referred to the riding member. Crosbie Settlement Track. The Public Works Department Engineer, Paeroa, wrote stating that on request from the settlers served by the Crosbie Track investigations had been made and it was found that by the making of six deviations of a total length of 253 chains it -would be possible to improve grades from 1 in 4 and 1 iu 6 to 1 in 12 or better. He -wished to know if, in the event of the Department doing the work and constructing the deviation the Council would legalise the deviations and indemnify the Department against any fencing claims. It had also been proposed to continue the present road through to junction with the Tapu-Coroglen Road at the top of the first saddle, but that had not appealed to the settlers on the ground of longer haulage to Thames. The Department's view was that this would be a great improvement especially in width of formation and better grades, and the Department wished to ascertain the Council's view on the matter. The clerk said that he had been informed that the settlers were unanimous in their desire to have the connection with the Tapu-Coro-glen Road. The Council decided to give every support to getting the road put through. Proposed Rivers Board.

The Paeroa Borough Council asked the Council to send two representatives to a conference set up to discuss the proposed action of the Government in setting up a Rivers Board with the object of loading the cost of the maintenance of the Wailiou and Ohinemuri River works on to the land in the district affected. The suggested date was Monday, July 27, at 2 p.m. at Paeroa. Cr Alley and the chairman were appointed to represent the Council. Inspector's Report. The Inspector (Mr J. W. Johnstone) reported that one man had been fined 30/- and costs for traffic breaches and that there were several more eases pending. . There licences who had been tested and had been six applicants for driving ther licences granted. Four persons had been warned for breaches of the regulations.