NEW MILITARY AREA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 215, 20 September 1940, Page 5

NEW MILITARY AREA

recommendation to the government CASTING VOTE FOR TAURANGA AS BAY OF PLENTY HEAD* QUARTERS The meeting of tlie Bay of Plenty local body representatives at Tauranga on Wednesday, convened by Mr L. R. Wilkinson, Mayor of Tauranga, was for the purpose of considering the Home Guard in relation to existing military areas and . followed a recommendation from the Hon. D. Wilson's meeting at Paeroa that the Bay of Plenty should form a separate military district. At the present time the Area Headquarters is at Paeroa ant! it was thought that for the proper administration of the Home Guard scheme a Bay of Plenty area should be established. Together with his apology for absence, Mr T. Jackson, Mayor of R.otorua, to whom an invitation had been extended, pointed out that Rotorua Avas the logical centre for the Bay of Plenty as far "as military value was concerned and this view was supported later in the discussion by Mr J. L. Burnett, Whakatane County Chairman. Mr Wilkinson, however, contended that Tauranga was the natural centre and moved that a recommendation to that effect should go forward to the Government. An amendment favouring Rotorua was immediately forthcoming, it being pointed out that Tauranga was on the edge of the proposed area and administration might thus be affected. On being put to the meeting the. Whaaktane County, Whakatanc Bor ough, Opotiki County and Opotiki Borough supported the amendment while Tauranga County, Tauranga Borough, Mt. Maunganui Town Board and the Te Puke Borough voted against it. As a previous ruling of the chairman (Mr Wilkinson) made it possible for those present only to vote, Mr Jackson's opinion was not sustained and the chairman's casting vote went against the amendment. It was pointed out afterwards that the recommendation had been made on the representation of one county while two counties (Whalyatane and Opotiki) had not favoured it. Rotorua opinion also had not been taken into account.

WHAKATANE CENTRE OF THE BAY OF PLENTY POPULATION- FIGURES QUOTED During the discussion on the establishment of a Bay of Plenty area military headquarters at the meeting of local body representatives at Tauranga on Wednesday, Mr B. S. Barry pointed out that Whakatane Avas the centre of the Bay. Mr Wilkinson, Mayor of Tauranga, and chairman of the meeting, said that Whakatane might be the geographical] centre but was not the centre of population. The population included in a radius of twenty miles from Tauranga was greater than that in the same arc with Wlia katane as the pivot. This statement was challenged by Mr C. G. Lucas, Wliakatane County Clerk, who quoted figures showing that, in the areas mentioned the respective populations were 17,000 and 20,000.