COUNTY COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2506, 6 November 1891, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

The monthly meeting "of the Ashburton County Council was held to-day. ' Present —Messrs C. J. Harper, Hugo Fried lander, E. G. Wright, Duncan Cameron,.- James Brown, E. S. Coster, and John Grigg. In the absence of Mr W. C. Walker, Mr Grigg was appointed to the chair. chairman's statement.

. The Chairman's usual statement was read as follows;:— :

A gazette containing description of the boundaries of the new electoral districts ant map showing the same have been received from the Government and are placed on the table for the Council's inspection and information.—Mr D. Thomas reports that lie has sold the lease of reserve 173 to ihe proprietors of the Acton Kstate at 16s per acre. —The Irrigation Committee have met and will present their report to-day. A letter fiom Mr Goodwin on the subject of the proposed irrigation districts will be placed before the Council; —The Rangitata Road Board writes to say that the proposed road through reserve 2589, leased by Mr Goodwin, was laid off by the Chiaf Surveyor m 1885, and that the 'Board has expended moneys on this road ; also, tha' as the settlors aro desirous to have .the road opened, the Board lia-j given the lessee notice to erect, gates or remove the fences across the road.— The Wakauui Road Board states its willingness to devote £15 out of the monies accrued from thirds on village settlements along the railway line for the purpores of a water supply for the said settlements without prejudice.—The accounts for the six months ending September 30 lsw>b have been audited . and the bal aice sheet has been sent to Wellington.—The Loi.gbeach and Cold.itreani Road Boards aud the Tinwald Town. Board have agreed to take over the control of the portion of tho south road through their respective districts and the Council can now recommend that a proclamation be issued vesting the road iv the above local bodies.

THE NEW ELECTORATES. Mr Friedlandcr said t,h:»c as Mayor of Ashburton he had written to the Commissioners recommending them to retain the name of Ashburton instead of Rakaia for the new electorate. Mr Wiight said that although there mi ht be many reasons why the Commissioner!! should alter the boundaries of the electorate, there was no reason why they should alter the name of it. The electorate had been called Ashburton for nine years, snd the mass of the population m the tow? electorate was m the town of Ashburton and its immediate neighborhood, He had,- as member for . the district, drawn the Commissioners' attention to the fact that Ashburton wv»s more appropriate as the name cf tb,e electorate than Rakaia, and he thought the Council might., very well support his notion by a resolution. , Mr Cameron moved —"That fhe Commissioners be requested to retain the name of the 'Ashburton electoral district m lieu of Rakaia, as the greater portion of the population of the new district is m the immediate neighborhood of the borough of Ashburton." Mr Brown seconded, and the resolution was carried. engineer's report. The Engineer's report was read as follows:— Plains Water Supply. — The supply throughout this district during last month was, on the whole, satisfactory. The travelling, shingle at Pudding Hill dam is still a source of some trouble, but it is more easily disposed of since the contraction was made at the outlet. ] During the last three weeks the vegetable growths, common to the races at this season of the year, have appeared m most of them, and the half-yearly overhaul should be undertaken this month. This could be accomplished without turning the water oft", especially as the mains m the upper portion of the district are all ill very, fa^r order. ' Ithmpstead Whhr Suppht. —The Chairman o,f the Town Board informs me that the service required at present is suoh us •'would 1 have: its outfall into existing rice from Wakanui creek, near Jones. The expense of this would not be greater than ior the scheme originally proposed by the Council. A communication from the Town Board on this question will probably be received to-day, Branch Race, Dromare. —With reference to the proposed races through Dromore township, I have either seen or communicated with the various settler*, to whose sections the accrued " thirds " would apply. It appears that after deducting half cost of railway culvert at Keseive 264 there will only be £ J. 2 l«)s available from the Wakanui Road Board for this purpose, whereas the estimated cost of that part of the race is £28, but ■the settlers siy they would consent to make up the deficiency by executing the earthwork m race, and aonie of the fords. Mr Moore also would consent to waive the question of severance m Lot 5, to avoid deep cutting. The cost of the remaining portions of- the. race, which would be" X>\ miles long. m Ml, would be defrayed jointly by the'- various owners through whose properties it would, pass. Their proportion- would bo about £$}, exclusive of q quota of siyr £& towards the construction of a small- main formerly propoqpi jji-<,mr WtodMipfe to secure ii B'upplJ&, jftpp "4§B» ■ **"V. .i" other additional raqe.s iv the locality? Hifmdsfvr Ctewwy ifaww.—With tlj«

exception of Mr Mahoney's, and some sma'ler amounts, these have now been all received. Ashburton-Rangit da Wate* Supply. — Wir.slow water race.—The contractor is now at work an.l wiU finish on Monday. I Thereafter he will be prepared to start i the enlargements of mains from sottth Ashhurton river. The funds to be provided by the Rangitata Road Board me not yet paid m, but some £200 I believe will be available immediately, and the balance probably before existing contracts are complete. Some enlargements of existing races would have to follow m order to procure a supply for the Lower Hindß district, and at least two new races m the Shepherd's Bush district -but. it will be a very disjointed sort of service if the supply for the various sections is to be introduced only as the " thirds " accrue, and-the capitalizing of these funds would seem to be a much more effective method of providing for a comprehensive scheme. Meantime some of the perpetual leaseholders m the Hinds district are prepared to contribute the cost of constructing their races, provided an adequate supply can ba brought down to the ra'lway line ; and a letter on this subject from the Chairman of the Coldstream Road Board is before you, and I could explain the position more fully on the maps. The extension of the P race which I was asked to report on would coat about £17. but the parties interested have agreed to hold the question m abeyance for a short time.

Waterion Race,~l have taken the various levels for proposed race from Tinwald via Ford's Road, and tenders will be placed with you to-day. A deputation will also wait on the Council to-day re the question of funds. Metkven Cemetery, —l have prepared the plan requested by the Board,. "Cemetery plantations. The, work of planting^ has been completed . for the season. During October 114 acres were fenced, ploughed, and sown with gums, etc, and 30 acres planted m Mount Harding and Barr Hill districts, and strips were ploughed around most of the plantation)) m Ashburton Rangitat* district. And fencing Along 3 chains reserve I>romore J . was secured against encroachments frpJi sheep. Irrigation.—l have altered fht boundaries of the proposed districts as requested by the Committee, so that theWiricbmore, Rakaja, .and Wakahui"districts now comprise 124,000 acres, and is exclusive of the Lower Acton, district as shown on map, and which contains 24,000 acres, the half of which would "be suitable for irrigation. . : , The Cracroft-Coldstream districts as now shown contains 83,000 acres. RACE CLEANING. It was resolved that the half-yearly cleaning of the water races be undertaken this month. ■ -. . . . - VILLAGE SETTLEMENT WATEB:BUPFLY. A lengthy discussion took place: on the question of the water supply-to the village settlers at Oromore, cUalt with' m the Engineer's report. •. ; Mr Brown moved " That Mr, Baxter be instructed to proceed with .the work upon the terms f mentioned |n jthe Kngineer's report, with bh'e exceptioy of £2 "10s for culvert referred' to therein, over which the Council has n» control." , Mr Harper seconded the motion. Mr Wright moved as an amendment,, " That, as the sum of £28 is, required to give water to settlers at Drorhore, and as the Wakanui Road Board have £24 33 7d m hand due to these settlers, this Council is of opinion that theJioad Bo*rd'should devote the said sum to -the execution of the work m question." He would have to move this amendment, event if no Councillor seconded ic. Mr Cameron woiitd'second the amendme it. There were very many ' miles of races thafc had been paid for out of county funds, and he sympathised with these village .settlers. > The amendment was, lost, ' -ajpd tho motion carried, I ASIIBUKTOX-KANGITATA. HUPPEY. | Letters wore read' from the Chairman of the Coldstream Road Board" and the district engineer on the subject of an extension .of the water supply m the Hinds district and at the Hinds railway station. It was decided that if the Railway Department will contribute £'30, the matter will be favorably considered. In regard to the funds to be provided l>y the Rangitata Road Board,