CONDITION CRITICISED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 109, 9 May 1936, Page 8

CONDITION CRITICISED

WANCAEHU \ ALLEY ROAD RESULT OF FLOOD DAMAGE DEPUTATION TO WANGANUI COUNTY COUNCIL I’h.e cundlilua ot the Wuagaehu \a.iev Road, between Aranui and Mount V.ew. was criticised by a deputation which waited on the Wanganui County Council at its monthly meeting yestei- • av and urged that step- should be laken to repair the highway and enable the settlers to have better a.-v-ess The reputation comprised Me*-’.- T. Hine, D. White and A. C. and G. Ca.via Birch. Ihe speakers contended t’at the Wanganui County had done nothing toward putting the road in order after the floods of last February. The chairman (Mr Duaca: Ma-kiu-t ) replied that the com’ty had ex periencC‘l an exceptioua.lv trying period owing to the vast amount ot Hood damage which had ’• jcurred on inanv of its roads. He den ed that any at epayers had been neglected and a*ured the deputation tha 4 . everything possible was being done in the inrtcrests ■Road Neglected’' Mr I’. Hine said he was ui the opinion that tire road haj been very much neglected- Culvert.* Lad been blocked in places and watertables had not been cleared out. No roadman bad been on that section of ihe road for about 12 months. He contended that the road should be repaired as soon as possiidf and metalling none in the wor-t «.' c . Another speaker held the .iev the damage done had been, eniireiv due to neglect in keeping the watertables open. Mr D. Waite said that the bulk of : ie damage on the upper portions of i his road was the result of poor neglect. Uu one section of the highway v t.vo days* work had been done since last Christina.-*. Most cf the damage occurred two weeks after the big flood of February 2. “The road is in a most damnable condiMun,” the speaker declared. The Chairman: Yes. that s the word. Mr Ormond Wilson. MJ’, for Rangixci (who was present at this stage of the meeting : You won’t ask him bow: th d raw ? ( Laughte r . Cr. D. McGregoi; We ha'e no Speake- here. Mr Mackintosh said he had to re y upon the riding lepresen-tai*’’ e« io bring these matters before bin.. Trouble Last May - . A. Collins said that :he tiuub'e ■started last May when the rainfalls nere abnormal. Since then 10 to 12 men had been employed on the road. <»ne section of the road was no sooner repaired than another damaged by further flooding. The road was in a fair onditiou for the wool season and it was hoped that re-metallinjz aud regrading would have been possible last summer. The severe storms at the beginning of February, however, had made this work impossible The secjnd storm that month caused a big »i:p to «eonie down on a waterfall with the result that a culvert wus blocked and a great deal of damage done to the road. Other damage occurred further down the road and as this was used by many settlers, repairs there were more essential than at the tup end. The question of finance, accentuated by so much damage in different pa.ts of the country, had been a big problem. One half the revenue had been spent in repairing flood damage alone. He had been a member of the Wanganui < ounty Council for 21 years and had never known such abnormal flooding and so much read damage in a short t>pace of time. Serious Matter for Council < r. T. Mitchell endorsed Cr. Collins* remarks and said that finance was the big question. Flood d-amag. had be-<-om* a very serious matter io the council and he thought ihe rate would have

to go up if past experiences kept on recurring. The county engineer (Mr K R. Dawson'. said that of the 250 miles of road in the county. 200 miles we-c most difficult to keep open. During the past 12 months there had not been one instance of six weeks of fine weather in succession. It'ja 1 maintenance bad suffered accordingly. So far as the Wangaehu Valley Road was concerned. a blocked culvert :t mile un the Wanganui side of Mount View had caused al, the trouble. It was very questionable whether this damage could have been avoided, even if a permanent roadman hail been in attendance. He hrd always instructed county employees working un the roads after floods and slips t<« give access to .settlers a> soon as possible, even if a track sufficient for a car only was made until •circunist.ance< permitted more satisfactory repairs. During the past .12 months the weather had been extremely boisterous. He Lad experienced a very trying time in his endeavours to keep the roads open. As far as the Wangaehu Valley Road was concerned, the lower end receive] first attention, but this was ne/essary. It would have been foolish to clear the top end first. The chairman pointed out that few people realised the tremendous amount of work which the engin -er was recpiired to do. The countv bad experi enced a most trying perio l. easily the worst that he bad known £«>r 24 years. The county did everything possible for its ratepaver< and its first duty was to these roads which were most used by the public. “W? are doing the best we can for you.” the chairman asserted. “We are not going to neglect anybody.' •