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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts]

The Westland County Council

The Westland County Council , which was constituted in the year 1876, under the Counties Act, has a district which covers an area of 1,293,797 acres, and is the largest county in the colony. The county is bounded on the north by the Teremakau river, on the sorth by the Awarua river, on the east by the Southern Alps, and on the west by the ocean. The number of ratepayers in the county is 4500, and the rateable value is £168,477. Crown lands are valued at £511,397. The boroughs of Hokitika, Kumara, and Ross are not included in the county valuations. There are three ridings, Kanieri, Arahura and Southern; the rate is 11/2d in the pound on the capital value, and the annual revenue amounts to £4,200. There are about 740 miles of formed roads and tracks in the county, and the main road, which runs from the Teremakau river on the north, to Waiho in the south, is well metalled. Owing to the narrowness of the county, and the Southern Alps forming the watershed, and causing precipitousness in the land, the Council is occasionally at considerable expense in repairing damages; owing to the flood of the year 1904, a special expenditure of £1000 was incurred in this way. There are a number of important bridges in the county of Westland; and tenders were invited in 1905 for rebuilding some of them. Over the Arahura river there are two bridges, a lower and an upper bridge. There is a large bridge over the Kanieri river, on the main south road; one, over the Kokatahi, was opened in 1903, and there is a bridge of about 100 feet in length over the Totara river. In the year 1903 the fine bridge over the Teremakau river was washed away. In 1905 the Council obtained a loan of £4,788, under the Loans to Local Bodies Act, to pay off the overdraft. Several small cemeteries in the country districts are under the control of the Council. The offices of the Council are in one of the oldest Government buildings on the West Coast. It was originally erected as the Provincial Treasury, is of wood and iron, adjoins the Supreme Court, and contains four rooms. Members for the year 1905: Messrs A. Cumming, T. J. McGuigan, H. A. Bancke, and A. Clifton, Kanieri riding; T. W. Duff, J. F. Byrne, and T. McGrath, Arahura riding; and J. Grimmond, and S. J. Ferguson, South Westland riding. Mr. T. W. Duff is chairman, and Mr. D. J. Evans, county clerk.