Paeroa Borough Council

Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 4, September 1965

Following agitation by local residents and negotiations between a committee representing the Paeroa Borough Movement Association and the Ohinemuri County Council, an area was agreed upon which could be formed into a Borough provided a poll of ratepayers was successful.

The poll was duly conducted on the 20th May 1915 with 154 votes in favour and 77 against seceding from the County. Mr. W. Waters, an Accountant in Paeroa, had been appointed returning officer to conduct the poll and he duly advised the Minister of Internal Affairs of the result. By 26th May a reply was received asking Mr. Waters to confer with Mr. Nicholas and others interested, on the size of the Council, a date for the first election, the appointment of an Acting Town Clerk and a date for the first Council meeting.

It was decided that incorporation as a Borough should take place on 1st July 1915 and that there would be a Mayor and 8 councillors. The election for office was held on l4th July 1915 at the Ohinemuri County Council Offices. The only nominee for the Mayoralty was Mr. William John Towers. The councillors duly elected were Gerald Ernest Allen, Frederick Augustus Balche, Philip Edward Brenan, Henry Robertson Bush, William Jackson Ellis, Alfred Edwin Fielder, Joseph Waddington Graves and William Huia Taylor. The first meeting was held 22nd July 1915 when Cr. Taylor was appointed Deputy-Mayor. One of the first items of business considered was a reception to Sgt. Major A. Robertson and a farewell to Lieutenant Parry and Silcock and other members of the 7th Reinforcements. Meetings were held in the Ohinemuri County Chambers and in August the Council accepted an offer from Mr. W.M. Cullen to spend £50 converting his No.l sample room in Wharf Street to a Council office and thereafter to rent it to the Council for 4 years at £26 per A.

Applications were called for a Town Clerk with either (I) Salary of £100 p.a. and the right to accept other work in addition or (II) applicant to state the salary required and to agree to place the whole of his services at the disposal of the Council. Mr. William Waters was duly appointed on the basis of the first alternative on 12th August but resigned a year later to take up a similar position in Foxton.

TOWN CLERKS

The succession in the Mayoralty was as follows:-

Mr. Towers from July 1915 to April 1919.

Mr. P.E. Brenan April 1919 to May 1923.

Mr. Wm. Marshall May 1923 to May l94l.

Mr. Edwin Edwards May 1941 to November 1950

Mr. N.C. Davies Nov. 1950 to Aug. 1955.

Mr. L.J. Shaw Sep. 1955 to November 1959

Mr. E.W. Lee Nov. 1959 to -

The record of the names of Councillors is a very lengthy one and includes the names of many distinguished citizens of Paeroa. However, one of the most remarkable records was that of Mr. Edwin Edwards who was elected to the Council at a by-election in 1920, became deputy-Mayor in May 1921 which office he held continuously until his elevation to the Mayoralty in 1941. Mr. Edwards therefore had a continuous record of service to the Council of over 30 years.

Others with lengthy periods of service have been:

There have been only two cases of both father and son having served on the Council: F.E. Flatt (1917-41) and A.J. Flatt (1959-64) Total: 30 years.

B. Gwilliam (1938-44) and C.E.J. Gwilliam (1947-53), Total: 12 years.

Mrs A.V. Wheeler the present Deputy Mayor has been the only lady councillor. During 50 years there have been only four Borough Foremen: W. Neil 1915-36 (21 Years), J.G. Knap 1936-46, Ray Nield 1948-60, N.J. Neil 1960 -.

LIST OF MAYORS AND COUNCILLORS

The Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet for the first year makes interesting reading. Rates struck for 1915-16 totalled £1170-10-6 for Borough purposes and £488-5-2 for the Hospital Board. Gold Duty amounting to £282-15-3 was received. Salaries for the year were £66-6-8 and Wages £365-11-0. The General Rate was l/6d in the £ on the Annual Value. In these early years the bulk of the expenditure was on Streets though one of the other large items was for Street Gas lights which cost £230 for the year 1917-18.

The first loan raised was £650 to pay off the liabilities to the County Council on becoming a Borough. During 1920-21, however, the Council took, what at that time was a mighty plunge and obtained authority to raise a loan of £42,750 for the provision of a sewerage system for the Borough. A roading loan for £11,250 was raised the following year and then further loans were applied for as follows:-

Domain Improvements Loan £1000 - 1924.

Criterion Bridge Loan £l800 - l927.

Water Improvements Loan £2000 - 1925.

Relief of Unemployment Loan £2000 - 1927.

Council Chambers Loan £2000 - 1925.

Main Street Improvements Loan £4500 - 1928.

Swimming Baths Loan £2000 - 1927.

Water Improvements Loan £700 - 1928.

In 1935 all these loans were converted into one big loan for £53,385. No further loans were then raised until 1948 when £8250 of the 1920 Sewerage Loan which had not been uplifted at that time, was called up.

Water Reticulation Loan £42,000 - 1953.

Pensions Flats Loan £5000 - 1960.

Waitawheta Loans £95,150 - 1956-57.

Works Loan £l6,000 - l96l.

War Memorial Loan £4,000 - 1956.

Pensions Flats Loan No.2 £5800 - 1963.

Rates struck in 1963/64 year totalled: £35,316.

From the first Minute Book of the Council the items which seemed to concern the Council most were wandering stock, the cost and inefficiency of the gas lighting, the bad state of the main outfall drain and the bad state of some of the streets, and the fact that some of them were impassable for wheeled traffic. In a wider field the Council complained to the Minister of Works that insufficient progress was being made on the stopbanks and that it was understood that a survey of a rail route from Kopu to Pokeno was being carried out as a possible alternative to the Paeroa - Pokeno route.

For the Christmas period at the end of 1915 a resolution was carried "That the whole of the Councils employees with the exception of the Foreman and the ranger be paid off on the 25th December and that the foreman be instructed to re-employ men as he thinks fit, after the holidays, work to commence on January 5th." (And these were supposed to be the "good old days").

The Criterion Bridge was also a constant source of trouble. The first bridge was a wooden structure. About 1904 a new bridge of three 60 feet spans resting on two concrete piled piers was erected. This bridge had a steel superstructure with a clear roadway width of 11'6" between the wheel guards. The wooden decking however was regularly suffering damage from the iron shod wheels of waggons.

Fortunately for the Council the stop-banking of the river was currently proceeding and by 1924 it was known that a new structure would be required. The Public Works Department carried out the design and estimated the cost as £12,280 which to be provided as to £4500 by the Works Dept., £4500 by the Borough and County, and £3280 to be charged to river improvements. The two Councils did not take very kindly to this allocation and this resulted in the Mayor and County Chairman going to Wellington to see the Minister, the Rt. Hon. J.G. Coates, where agreement was reached that the local authority share should be reduced to £3000. After several meetings agreement was at last reached whereby the Borough was to pay £1650 and the County £1350. Eventually an Official opening ceremony was held on 5th April 1928 when the Hon. K.S. Williams. Minister of Public Works officiated.

In 1926-27 the Council became very perturbed at the state of its main roads, (Puke, Belmont, Normanby and Waihi, Thames and Te Aroha). Traffic tallies were taken in May 1927 at four points and from 7.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. these showed:-

This was adjudged a fairly quiet day. The Wharf situated at Puke probably accounted for the volume of traffic on Puke Road.

Ministry of Works traffic tallies taken in 1962 by mechanical means, and averaged, showed:

Puke Rd.: 1200 Vehicles per day.

Thames Rd.: 830 Vehicles per day.

Waihi Rd.: 1700 " " "

Te Aroha Rd.: 1510 " " "

During Summer holidays these figures rose to: Waihi Rd. 2930; Thames Rd. 1020; Te Aroha Rd, 2060; indicating the call of the sea coast to New Zealand.

NO AIRMAIL

The Council purchased a 320 gallon bitumen sprayer in 1924 for £225 when the accounts came to hand the Council had been charged £6-9-6 for wharf storage and wrote to the suppliers asking why they should be charged for this. The reply states "Your machine was shipped on the S.S. Norfolk. Unfortunately, the Norfolk being a fast steamer arrived in Auckland well ahead of the next succeeding mail by which we received shipping advice and documents."