Proposed East Coast Road

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 197, 9 August 1940, Page 5

Proposed East Coast Road

ROUTE FOR MAIN HIGHWAY -FAVOURABLE CONSIDERATION PROMISED HON. R. SEMPLE S ASSURANCE

The .visit of the Hon. R- .Semp le, Minister of Public Works, to Whakatane yesterday, was the signal for a strong: deputation to wait upon him relative to the vexed. question of the proposed new East Coast Main Highway. .The, Minister, who was accompanied by Mr J, Wood, Chief Engineer of the public Works Department, and Mr R H. P. Ronayne, District Engineer, Tauranga, met the depultr in the Borough Council Chambers and promised to give thej -whole project, as outlined by local, supporters, the fullest consideration.. He had, he said, visited this district for the purpose of telling the people,. th : ; at % the present time to introduce both the railway extension scheme and the formation of a new main highway. to thje Shortage of essential materials the railway, though it. may. have its merits, must definitely be re u garded in the. .meantime as impracticable. The highway, however, would be carefully investigated.

4 local Case Reviewed. V'■ A '.UV The local viewpoint was expressred by Mr R. W. Schofield, president •of the of Commence.,' wlii^, stated that .a, petition %en (or- v -warded to the Minister some months ago, setting out the views expressed at a public meeting of citizens. The suggestion was, briefly, that t'hd main highway be brought to thq town via a new bridge oyer the Whakatane River in the vicinity of the Paper ; Mills. Ffom • ther& i't■would run through the town and -reach Ohope by way of a coastal road running over the hill at- thtS rear of th'e ; Police Station ; anol'through tlie deep-water Otawai'rerfc foreshore. Ohope Bleach'' Was recognised as bite'" of tlie finest iti the world and 1 ft the'''road' \Vefe to 'run "its entire length it would'fbrm to esplanade which would be an ■ sit 1 -* tractive asset ion - the maim route, to. 'Opotiki. ; • • < iMr Sclidifleld ' maitit'aihed' that' 'there was 1 no through' commithlcations access to Whakiitane at the tpresent tiriie. He stated that it was merely a bottle-neck, with the one road catering for incoming and outgoing traffic. From the point of view of the protection of the Paper "Mills, he considered that an up-to-date road would lend itself to the -automatic defence of this very vital .•manufacturing unit. Other Points Raises Another point raised was that 'Otawairere Bay furnished the only point of deep-water between Taurariga and the Bast Cape,, In these uncertain times it was quite possible for a ? submarine to shelter there. Road access to this bay would provide a point for loading and unloading deep-sea vessels. Mr R. F. Smith, supporting Mr Schofield, said that the business men strongly advocated bringing the main highway through the town. By using the proposed route the road,.to Opotiki would be shortened by 16 or 18 miles. The conservation of maintenance costs in this respect would more than offset any •extra outlay owing to the nature of ' the country. Mr A. J. Canning suggested thai the entire matter be left in the hands of the engineers of the P.W.D the County and the Borough. He was certain that the outcome ot such a conference would meet with satisfaction. Railway out of the Question. "I want to say, in the first, place, that the cost of the railway extension .from Taneatua would be £1,250,000. This makes it out of the question just now, for apart from the finance requirec- is no material avail able ■ are not going to jeopardise in the slightest degree the requirements of the Old Country at this moment,'' said the Minister. "The road, an the othe,r hand, would cost a little under £300,000, and ma* terial doesn't come in to it. So> it is not out of the question/* Mr Semple stated that the district would not be able to enjoy both these facilities, and though the railway was out of the question, the highway was well within the bounds •of probability. Both may have their merits, but, to put it frankly, he considered that a modern highway was far more of an asset than a railway, which, he hoped, might fade into oblivion. The, question •was, to build a road which gave the greatest' service arid greatbsf -convenience to the largest section -of the cornirrtTitity. . : : :r: :

Running a Risk. **This country,'' said Mr Semplc, "is only on thc fringc of its development and we cannot afford to let it reYriam so. It eould carry a populatVon of 10,0P0j<)00 and, Avitli our small' one and a half millions, we are running of a risk' in this restless, land-hungry world. I maintain that the best immigrant is,.the New Zealand horn. Next come those of British stock, and-nothing would please me better thail to see 10.000 British children, quartered in this land, for the duration of the war. They may go back home again but they "WOUld return. "We can't hold thisljind down,,; with a population as It is at pre- 4 sent,'''' 'the Minister continued, "We want Space to build our citios, opiaoi'tlnnties to develop our industries ancj that brings us back to the necessity for, .a proper and modern reading system. , "1,, .Tvant it to be understood 1 , that while we are not abanding the .idea of the railway, at the present time it is: out of the question but the highway is