BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Western Star, 6 October 1939, Page 5

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. At the monthly meeting of the Riverton Borough Council the Mayor (Dr N. G. Trotter) was in the chair. Those present were Crs. J. Crawford, T. Hannan, A. F. Webb, J. A. B. Walker, E. B. Patrick and E. S. Fossey. Correspondence was received from the Prime Minister's department as follows: I, am in receipt of your letter of the sth inst. conveying a. resolution passed at a recent meeting of your Council and on behalf of the Government I desire to express our grateful appreciation of the offer of cooperation and support which it contains. My colleagues and I very much appreciate your assurances which are being brought to the notice of the appropriate authority. (Signed) W. Lee Martin, for the Prime Minister. The Mayor expressed his appreciation at the acknowledgment, particularly when little Riverton had been

the first to forward its' assurances. "We seem to be like a dog chasing . his tail in ■ our efforts to obtain the Borough water supply- It is four years now since we took the initial steps to obtain official sanction for the development of the scheme, and now this letter seems to put us back where we started-from. Did the Council desire to proceed with the scheme ? It has been hammering away at it for four years and still is no" further advanced," said Cr J. A. B. Walker. "The remarks arose from a reply to a dupli- . cate letter to the Loans Board of a letter sent in 1936. The reply stated: "I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 21st inst. covering p. duplicate of the application ' forward ?cl ' to the Loans Board under cover oi.' your letter of the ' 19th September, 1936. You do not/however, state the reason;for furnishing the duplicate. If it is intended to be an indication that"

your Council desires to proceed with the scheme it is presumed that the requiremeuts or the. Loans Board's technical adviser in the matter of the com- , plete survey and examination of the catchment area . and dam site have been prepared to'the necessary standard. ' If this has been done, arrangements will be made for the scheme to : be further investigated with a vieAV to .the application being submitted to the Loans Board rbr consideration, but 1 should Tjo pleased to have your assurance that the necessary . steps have . been taken, to , ensure that considera- ' tion by the,Board will be facilitated ' by-the presentation of the data necessary for'the purpose." It was agreed that the correspondence received be forwarded, to Mr «i. Hargest M:P. for his. information unci for" the information of the Minister. A letter wa» received from the Eiv--erton Cricket Club's secretary making. application for permission to piny • cricked .on the local recreation ground this season. If permission was grunted would it be possible for some oi' the members to meet the Works' ■Co-m----mitteewith a view to improving t'u l . playing area. Cr. J. A. B. Walker moved that <hc Club be given permission provki nl there was no play .on Sundays. A'o permission was given to the Bowling Club and so no difference should Up madei This was seconded by Cr. T. llann:• ;>, who stated that he did not agree wl-h Sunday play, particularly as it int ;•- fered with Church worship, - Cr. E. B. Patrick disagreed. There was no offence to passers by. They wer.e unlike the who were in full view and disturbed those going to Church, and they paid £1 a year foj the use of the ground. Cr.' A. F. Webb moved 'an amend ment that tbe application be granted and .that they meet the Works' Com mittee. The Mayor: The question is whether they be allowed to play, but not on Sundays. Cr. E. S. Fossey moved that they be allowed to play without any restric- . tions. j . This was seconded by Cr. Webb, and on being put to the Council the voting was 3 —3, the Mayor using his casting vote against the amendment. In speaking to the original mrtiou -Cr. Walker said they have. Saturday afternoons. Cr Patrick: "Not in Riverton."

Cr. Walker: "Anyway they have Wednesday afternoons and their evenings for their cricket." Tbe original motion was. carried. C. Beer wrote for permission to make a connection into main sewer drainage from new residence erected for Mr More in Palmerston street. — Granted. Miss N. E. Boldero wrote that she would bo glad if the Council would see its way clear to connect the drain from her property in South Riverton with the drain recently constructed in Herbert street. —To meet the Works' Committee. ~

Applications from the St. John's Am bulance Association and the Riverton

Branch of the W..D.F.U. for permission to use the Council Chambers for lectures on Friday and Tuesday respectively. —Granted.

B. C. Hancock wrote that he did not consider a new culvert necessary as the culvert only needed repairing. The culvert at present is a very long one and if the piece at the end which is broken were taken away the culvert would still be the length required. The culvert is very little used and .never used for heavy traffic. —Left to the chairman of the Works' Committee.

An appeal for permission to and assistance at a screening in the Empire Theatre to help the New Zealand Institcte for the Blind was received. —Cr. J. Crawford to help and permission given. A letter was i*ead from the National Federation of Health Camps intimating that a meeting of the executive committee would be held. —Received.. A letter from the New Zealand Standards Committee enclosing Standards specifications for road grader cutting edges and tynes' No. 1294 with the draft specifications was received and laid on the table. A letter from the Southland County Council enclosing pamphlet "Roadside Beautification in New Zealand" for the information of Councillors was read. — Received with thanks and laid on the table.

A letter and draft schemes were received from the Minister of Internal Affairs dealing with an emergency lprecaution scheme that would function should an emergency arise either by natural catises, enemy action, or such other cause. —Agreed that the draft scheme be submitted to the Progress League and the Women's Institute and the W.D.F.U. with a view ■to subsequent conference. The following communication was received from the Wallace County Coun-" f-il: Re T. S. Muirhead, Waimatuku. In receipt of your letter l of the sth instant advising that the Harbour Committee will make an inspection of the Taunamau Channel cut at an early date and report at the next meeting of the Board was minuted at yesterday's meeting. I have also to advise you that Messrs Stout, Lillicrap and Hew.at on instructions from T. S. Muirhead of Waimatuku, will commence proceedings against the Wallace County Council under Section 63 of the Land Drainage Act, 1908 with a view to compelling this Council to give notice under Section 62 of the same Act requiring the owner (Riverton Har-. bour Board) of Section 7, Block XXIV, Jacob's River Hundred to clear out the drain between the Taunamau Stream and the sea. The report of the committee appointed to inspect the drain again says: Crs. Patrick and Walkei' and the secretary of the Harbour' Committee inspected- Taunamau cut today and found a splendid flow of water right through the cut to sea, no cause for complaint by T. S. Muirhead. Since last .visit of inspection and apparently owing to two heavy falls of snow las f month a, few minor slips from the side banks occurred. Your, committee has arranged to have the slips where necessary removed . and the drain cleaned out. —Wallace County Council' to be adfised accoi'dingly. Canterbury Employers' Association wrote re South Island Local Bodies' (L T rban Section) Award re a question whether labourers, unless under some special section of the award are covered by the award. The Labour Department has given a ruling that th y are not. >lt is proposed to 'amend tY award that they be paid £4 12/6 \i ■ • week or 2/9 per hour. —Received.

A letter was received from the Cen tennial Memorial Committee approving the proposal submitted for Rivertun Borough's swimming bath.

The chairman of the Works' Committee (Cr. Webb) reported that Have lock, Princes, Delhi and Butler streets had been gravelled and the chipping completed. 1,063 yards of spoil had been shifted. Mr Thornhill's culvert was in position, and notices had been erected for pedestrians to keep to the footway when crossing the traffic bridge. The purchase of additional barrows was approved.—The report was adopted.

( The Council offered its congratulations to those residents who had planted the flowers in the Centennial Park, and thanked Miss Boldero, Mr Wadsworth, Mr Mclvor and numerous others for their efforts in beautifying the Park.