MAIN ROUTE TO EAST COAST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 40, 24 July 1939, Page 5

MAIN ROUTE TO EAST COAST

WANTED THROUGH WHAKATANE > / CITIZENS' UNITED VOICE REPRESENTATIVE MEETING'S DECISION : •• * "l / "That this meeting representative of the citizens of Whakatane, in the absence of direct railway connection, would emphasise to the •Government the urgent need of thi.- town and district for the provision of adequate road communication, and on that account would strongly recommend that the coastal road insofar as it is already proposed to pass through the Borough, be laid so as to provide a bridge at a point as near as possible to the Paper ■Mills across the reclamation, along Quay Street, over the hills behind the Police Station and thence via Ocarawaircre nay and Ohope to Opotiki. Further, that this meeting, in view of the congested nature of the traffic during the summer from Whakatana to Ohope Beach via Hillcrest and with several fatalities of recent occurrence in mind, strongly recommends the ?vlinister of Public Works, that the above route be put in ! Hand as urgently as possible, in order to avoid a narrow and dangerous '•-road, by providing a new and safer access to a growing and populous seaside resort."

The above motions were passed un. j. aniniously by a meeting of fifty-two ..businessmen and citizens of Whaka..tane at a special public meeting convened by the Chamber of Commeu-e for the purpose of discussing the .route to be taken by the new coast juain highway, and giving voice to •±he opinion of the people of the ■town.

Several notes, bearing on the above ivere also passed for forwarding on to the' Main Highways Council. These read ''This route would thus relieve Alie congestion on the present main .thoroughfare in the town and provide an additional ingress arid egress, .also a shorter route to the PapeA .Mills. This is a.route which was suggested to the Minister of Public Works and his engineer and approved of by thenvand later also by the Director of Town Planning, Mr Maw.son. It would also overcome all previous objections from the hospital's point of view and any other possible to the route should it go wia Goulstonc Road past the school." BUSINESSMEN TAKE INITIATIVE, As president Mr R. W. Schofield, opened the meeting explaining that since the last meeting called to consider the proposal, and the very negative/ result, he had been urged bv . members of the executive to call another meeting to allow a further expression of public opinion. Most . businessmen were of the opinion that the route should go- through the -town but the instruction to the mem ber for the District Mr Hultquist, a week or two ago, had been barren '-of any guidance whatsoever. He had . been left in the air. He (Mr, Schofield) hoped that the present meet, ing would give a unanimous and ,'finite instruction, to him, that Wha- ] katane citizens desired the main high -way through the town. Mr A." J. Canning moved the mo--tion in the introduction which was . seconded by Mr S. Armstrong* WANTED STIRRING UP. Elaborating h's"motion, Mr Canning said that although most of the .citizens of Whakatane realised that the new route was under consideration by the-P.W.D., they needed stirring up. • They had the habit ot going home at night, digging in by - the firte, and reading their papers. They failed to realise what important * questions were being finalised. He sketched briefly the trial surveys that f be.ei> made recently and stated ' that in every way the route to Ohope

was the"" one'that should be supported ' T by all the; Whakatane residents. It ■would give closer access to Ohope Beach f which was a coming suburb ••-of some importance to the town. There, was a good and gradual grad:*., and though he understood the esti. -mated difference in cost to the Mar'ac : totara route, was something in the vicinity of £30,000, the advantages to be obtained both by the department and the borough 5 more than oflr .set this. Whakatane had been side- - tracked too long, and he felt that its ■people should now be prepared to work solidly to bring the new ro?.d through the town. PAROCHIALISM CONDEMNED ''Though I took very great care to state, last meeting, that whatever ' the parochialism of Whakatane was, my own personal parochialism extended to the borders of my electorate" 1 said Mr Hultquist oh being invited to address the meeting "some person has seen fit to allege that T aril watching the interests of Whakn-t taiio to the detriment of other.-parts' •of tjie, district I represent. The fact that I live in Whakatane is inciden-

tal, and though I will say no more on the subject just now, I intend to have some pretty straight talking' to do in the near future." Mr Hultquist said that he consul, crcd it his duty to bring the fact that several routes were under con. sideration to the people of Whaka-. tane, in order to learn their desire?. He was not personally interested in what route was taken, but as the town's representative he wanted to know what was wanted. He also knew that it Avas the policy of the P.W.D. to shorten the routes Between tAVO terminal points wherever because of increasing traffic, maintenance costs and saving ot time. The only thing he had foundout last time was that the new road was not wanted past the hospital. That was all, and he had every reason to believe now that the wishes in this respect would be met. PUBLIC WORKS VIEW. Mr Hultquist read a letter from the P.W.D. on the subject, in which it was stated that although no actual course had been agreed on at present, there were definite' advantages in the Maraetotara route. Figures dealing with overseas traffic routes were mentioned but it was reiterated that the opinion of local bodies on, the point would be welcomed. The letter dwelt on the danger of adding further to the congestion of the main road in Whakatane should main road traffic be diverted through the town. can promise you that I'll assist you to the best of my ability when you say where you want this road" said Mr Hultquist. ''I cannot promise you I'll succced, but I'm definitely at your service." A BRIEF OUTLINE.

Mr Schofiekl then traced the histoid of the first move to take the road over the hill. Two year? ago he had induced several businessmen to subscribe to the cost of surveying the proposed route. Mr Rand had started to carry out the wo'rk, when the Hon R. Semple and the P.W.D. engineer Mr Ronayne, had visited the district and so approved the route that they had taken, over the survey. He himself knew that there were quite a number of really good building sites on the proposed route which would establish an attractive residential area, on the liill,s over, looking the sea. Mr B. S. Barry agreed that it would be most undesirable to add to the present volume of traffic on the main road. It would definitely have to be confined to the rear street, which would provide a: very necessary access along a. new course. "We want to put Whakatanc before the public of this country,'* he said. ''Many people think of Whakatanc as a little ba,ck blocks village. We want to bring them past the town and Jet them see what we've got." DANGER TO PLEASURE RESORT. Stating that he thought a main highway through Ohope would spoil it as a pleasure and seaside resort, Mr G. Brabant warned against dictating to the department. He there upon moved an amendment that the same route as outlined be taken with the exception that the Ohope section be omitted. s The amendment lapsed for want of a seconder. Mr Hultquist interpolated that Auckland with its waterfront brought a steady volume of traffic past half a -dozen beaches but he did not think this interfered with their popularity. Rather lie contended tha': more people would pass through Ohope and many would want to stop and enjoy themselves.

WARM ENDORSEMENT. Supporting the motion Mr R. p - Smith said that it should come from the meeting that the people of ha. katane wanted the road through their town. With so many residents living and intending to live at- Ohope surely one of the strongest arguments was that the travelling time would be shortened. The route wouLl also save approximately 20 miles en the Opotiki road. Whakatane had long been a Cinderella, without pioper access. There were few parallels in New Zealand. Yet in spite of this handicap, it had grown and progressed. With Ohope within a few minutes of the town, great advantages would accrue. He hoped the vote from the meeting was unanimous and commended the Chamber on its initiative in calling it. Mr J. W. Sumner, chairman of the Harbour Board who also supported the move, sketched at some length, the growth of the Harbour Board, and its gradual reduction of the heavy liability of £105, 000 1 which it had faced in the first year of its formation. The new route ? if agreed to would greatly assist the reclamation of the mudflats which were now the boards property. NO EFFECT ON OTHER ROUTES. Mr Washer asked if the alteration of the proposed rioute, by divert ing overland from the Paper Mills would 1 be likely to hold up anyof the present road work, now tinder construction. Mr Hultquist said he had no reason to believe it would. The chairman then put the motion to the meeting which was carried unanimously. A hearty vote of thanks was carried to Mr Hultquist for his interest and the information he had laid before the meeting, by acclamation. A further vote to the chair concluded the meeting.