1865.J

On the motion of Mr. Ald. BELL, the report was received.

THE NEW QUAY EXTENSION.

Mr. Ald. BELL said the Finance Committee had now the plans of the new quay extension ready, and he had to ask the Council to sanction the Finance Committee advertising for tenders.

Mr. PLUMMER said that the Council had agreed that this should be the first expenditure made under the new Act.

Mr. Ald. BELL produced the plans. The committee asked the sanction of the Council to advertise for tenders. As soon as those tenders were submitted, it would be for the Council to say whether they adopted them or not. The committee had had the plans, as prepared by their own surveyor, before them, and expressed their opinion thereon.

Mr. G. FORSTER: Have the Finance Committee a report ?

Mr. Ald. BELL replied that they had a report, but it contained details of the contemplated expenditure, and they did not think they should present it now. As soon, however, as they got the tenders they should bring forward their report with their estimate in it, and then the Council would see whether they would accept any of the tenders.

Mr. HAMOND: That's a most extraordinary way of doing business. Mr. Ald. BELL said his motion simply went to this extent asking the sanction of the Council to advertise for tenders for the continuation of these quay walls.

Mr. HAMOND: Which you have not yet decided you will make. Mr. HUNTER: The Council have decided.

Mr. Ald. BELL: The Council have decided to make the quay.

Mr. HAMOND said no report on the matter had been presented to the Council, and yet they were actually asked to advertise for tenders involving an outlay of £40,000. That was totally reversing the order of things. If they were to have an expenditure of £40,000 upon the quay, let them have the plans properly matured; let them be fairly put before the Council; and let the Council and the public have an opportunity of looking into them, and seeing if they were the best possible plans; and having satisfied themselves on these points they could then advertise for estimates to carry them out. But do not let them advertise in the first place. He was surprised at the conduct of Mr. Ald. Bell, who was a gentleman of business habits, in this matter. He never thought of advertising for tenders for work that he might never have carried out. (Mr. Hamond), therefore, proposed that this question be considered at next meeting It was not upon the paper; and it was a most unusual thing to discuss a matter under such circumstances. No person knew what they were to advertise for.

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Mr. Ald. BELL: All I can say, since Mr. Hamond has been good enough to refer to my intelligence, is, that very frequently upon such occasions my opinions have been very much modified after ascertaining what the expense of certain works would be; and I have been better able to judge of the expense after receiving from competent persons a distinct estimate of the cost for which they could be done.

Mr. HAMOND: Your own engineer will give you an estimate,

Mr. Ald. BELL: The plans are laid on the table. Mr. Hamond can make himself perfectly familiar with them, and express an opinion on the engineering of the quay wall.

Mr. Ald. PHILIPSON said so much interest was felt in this quay extension, that an express obligation was inserted in the Act of Parliament to proceed forthwith with the work. The only question before the Council was whether they had sufficient confidence in the Town Surveyor and the Finance Committee to justify them in inviting tenders in order to ascertain the cost of the execution of the works. He should hope that it was not necessary to delay this matter on the ground of the objection raised. The quay line had been settled long ago, and the extension could only be carried out in accordance with it. The only other point was that the quay be so formed that the foundations be of sufficient depth to provide against the scour of the water, which was a question which had been considered, and on which the officers of the Corporation had given their opinion, sanctioning the propriety of those plans. He hoped the Council would not delay a work to which the mercantile portion of the community attached so much value. The question must be left to some committee, and the Finance Committee was the proper body to discharge that duty. He trusted the motion would be adopted.

Mr. BENSON Suggested that the subject should stand over for a month, and thus remove any difficulty that might exist.

Mr. Ald. LAYCOCK thought such a course would certainly be the more convenient one.

Mr. TEMPLE said the subject of Mr. Ald. Bell's motion was very important, and it ought to be decided at once.

Mr. GREGSON: Decided without information of course. That is the way everything is decided here. (Laughter.)

Mr. Ald. LAYCOCK said the Finance Committee should decide upon the plans they intended to adopt, and then get an estimate upon them by their own surveyor or engineer, which would certainly be sufficiently near for all practical purposes. But the way the Finance Committee now put the matter was to apply to the people who wished to tender for the work, to give them an idea as to what would be the cost; and they did not decide what they should do until they got these tenders. Their own engineer was surely competent to give them an idea what the cost of the works would be.

Mr. HUNTER: He has done so.

Mr. Ald. LAYCOCK asked why, if he had done that, the committee did not bring it before the Council? The plans should be adopted by the Council, and they should ascertain from their own officers what the cost would be before they came to the public and asked for tenders.

66

Mr. Ald. BELL: Will you have the report read or not?

Mr. G. FORSTER: Let us have the report.

Mr. Ald. BELL then read a portion of the report, as follows:

:

Drawing of proposed New Quay, North Shore, from Rotterdam Wharf to the Ouseburn, with details of that portion which it is convenient to execute at present; namely, from the Rotterdam Wharf to Hopper's Slipway, a distance of 190 yards. These details are for the quay wall merely, the sheds and other surface finishing being left for after consideration, or until the Quayside Railway is further advauced. As will be seen from the details it is proposed to carry the qnay wall 4 feet below the old low water mark, and 16 feet 6 inches below Tyne datum, the lowest point, which, in the opinion of the river engineer, the water in the river is likely to be reduced to at low water,-at which level it will rest upon a platform of creosoted beech planking, carried by Memel piles of an average length of 20 feet. The quay wall will be 11 feet thick at the base, and 20 feet 6 inches high, having ashlar face and counterforts at the back. These counterforts will answer the double purpose of giving strength to the wall, and serving as abutments for arches to carry either columns or a wall at distances of 5 feet or 6 feet from the edge of the quay, for any shed which may be required hereafter. The coping of the quay will be nearly one foot higher than the coping of the present quay at Newcastle. In consequence of having to carry the bottom of the quay wall so much below the level of low water a temporary coffer dam of sheet piles will have to be constructed, This, of course, materially adds to the cost, but yet I (the Corporation surveyor) would not recommend you to build any quay which would not be a permanent work, and able to withstand the deepening of the river to the extent contemplated; and the above, in my opinion, is the best mode of securing it. The total length of the quay wall, from the Rotterdam Wharf to the Glasshouse Bridge is 440 yards."

(Cries of "Cost.") The cost was there, but the committee did not think it desirable to make that public.

Mr. GREGSON, as one of the committee, begged to say he was by no means satisfied that this thing had been maturely considered. The expense was enormous. They were going to spend £40,000, and for whose benefit? For the benefit of a few large steamboats. What did these steamboats pay? Something like the advantage they received? No, they did not; and yet they proposed to throw away £40,000 on such parties. It was true some small rate was exacted, but he maintained that it was a mere bagatelle. These steamboats used the quay as a wharf. In other places they had to pay for their private wharves, and he did not see why they should not do so here. This report could not be considered complete unless they had another report from Mr. Ure, the Tyne Commissioners' engineer; and he thought before any steps were taken, their own surveyor's report should be submitted to them. The Tyne Commissioners had the power to interfere; and he did not think they had the power to execute the work without their consent.

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Mr. BENSON said Mr. Gregson had taken upon himself to say that this matter had been prematurely considered

Mr. GREGSON: I say prematurely because I know nothing about it, and you know less, (Laughter.)

Mr. BENSON said that was a very humiliating confession. The matter he (Mr. Benson) assured them had been most maturely considered, and the Council would have been justified that day in passing Mr. Ald. Bell's motion; but, all things considered, he should suggest that the subject should lie over till next meeting.

Mr. Ald. BELL: It delays the work a month.

Mr. HAMOND: It's the worst month in the year.

Mr. Ald. BELL, in correction of a statement made by Mr. Gregson, said a certain rent had been appointed by the Corporation to be paid for those wharves used by the steamers.

Mr. GREGSON: It was at my own suggestion that a small rate was imposed.

Mr. G. FORSTER said it was a question whether, there being no notice, the Council could deal with the proposition of Mr. Ald. Bell without suspending the standing orders.

Mr. HUNTER moved the suspension of the standing orders in this It was far too important a matter to stand over.

case.

Mr. Ald. NICHOL had great pleasure in seconding the motion. The names were then taken down on the motion for the suspension of the standing orders, with the following result:

FOR THE MOTION.-The Mayor; Aldermen Hodgson, Bell, Philipson, Sillick, Nichol, Ridley, Carr, Keenlyside, Ingledew, and Wilson; and Messrs. Hunter, J. Robinson, A. Potter, Dickinson, Harrison, Hutchinson. M'Allum, Harle, T. Forster, Temple, Sanderson, Mawson, Charlton, Brown, Pollard, Benson, Scott, T. Robinson, Stewart, and Hedley-31.

AGAINST IT.-Ald. Laycock and Blackwell; and Messrs Hamond, Gregson, Daggett, Falconar, Clark, J. Cowen, jun., Dove, J. Angus, Hunnam, and G. Forster--12. The motion was consequently carried.

Mr. HAMOND moved, as an amendment, that as no notice had been given of this motion for advertising for tenders, it be deferred until the next meeting; and he also moved that the names be taken down.

Mr. GREGSON Seconded that with great pleasure. This matter had been brought forward when one-half of the members had never seen the plans. It was a most gigantic piece of folly. The members of the Council who were present really knew nothing on the subject; and, what was far better, very few were capable of knowing anything. (Laughter.)

Mr. Ald. BELL: That's just the very reason why I thought it was going to pass at once.

The names were again taken down, and all those who voted for the suspension of the standing orders voting against the amendment, it was lost.

Mr. Ald. BELL then moved that tenders be invited for the erection of the quay.

Mr. HAMOND: Without the Council binding themselves to accept any.

Mr. Ald. BELL: Of course.

The motion was seconded and carried.

WALKER CHURCH.

Mr. Ald. BELL presented a report from the Finance Committee on an application from the Churchwardens of the Walker Church for a contribution towards the expenses of the extension of that building. The question involved was whether the Corporation would recognise any obligation to provide for the spiritual wants of their

lessees. The committee left the matter to the consideration of the Council.

The report was ordered to lie over till next meeting.

THE THOROUGH TOLL.

Mr. Ald BELL presented the following report from the Finance Committee as to the Thorough Toll:

The Finance Committee have considered the subject of the alteration of the line on which the thorough toll is taken. The whole of the borough being now in the same position with respect to streets, roads, and highways, one of the strongest objections to the extension of the line on which the toll is taken is removed. The Finance Committee are of opinion that the line ought now to be drawn as nearly as may be along the outskirts of the borough, and they submit to the Council a plan which has been prepared accordingly. But it must be remembered that in case of any deficiency in the produce of the thorough toll arising from the change, that deficiency must be made up from the funds of the whole borough. If this measure be approved by the Council, it will be necessary in pursuance of the provisions of the Town Improvement Act, 1837, that the plan should receive the approval of the Board of Trade, and the Finance Committee propose that it shall take effect from the 25th March next, when the period for which these tolls are let expires. The subsisting agreements of composition with the railway companies will expire at the same time, and it will be desirable in future to confine these compositions to the passage of goods across the new line on the rail, by which means much dispute and inconvenience which has hitherto existed in the collection of the tolls will be avoided.

The report was received.

J. HODGSON, Chairman.

WILLINGTON CATHOLIC CHURCH

Mr. Ald. BELL moved that the Corporate seal be affixed to a lease for 75 years to the Trustees of Willington Catholic Church and Schools, of 3 roods of ground at Willington, with liberty to build a chapel, school, and buildings thereon. Rent £12.

The consideration of the report was deferred till next meeting.

COST OF MAINTENANCE OF PRISONERS.

Mr. Ald. HODGSON presented the half-yearly statement ending 30th September, showing the cost of maintenance of prisoners in the Gaol, which was as follows :-Convicted under Criminal Justice Act, £384 9s. 1d.; at Assizes and Sessions, £148 18s. 10d.;