OPOTIKI v. WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 125, 4 July 1941, Page 5

OPOTIKI v. WHAKATANE

ROAD ACCESS QUESTION LETTER WRITER'S OPINION Writing to thei Opotiki News over the caption 'Observer' a correspondent proceeds to discuss the recent innocent decision of the Whakatane County Council, which aimed at giving the Waimana township a better through route than had hitheyto been the case. The letter which hints at sinister developments behind the move revads:— At last meeting of the Whakatane County Council, it was decided to ask the Main Highways Board to divert the Opotiki to Taneatua railway station road, so that it w;il<l cross the river twice in order to go round by Waimana township. This dog-leg road going in, and the dogleg road coming out over the hill is iy 2 miles longer than the route laid off by the Public Works Department, along the flats where there is a good open view ahead which cuts out a large number of blind corners. A year back, service car drivers received orders not to use the direct road, but to go round bv the river even if they had no passengers or parcels for the longer road and Opotiki did not object to the delay on each tFip. Secret Petition. When the Whakatane County Council raised the £20,000 loan in 1919 the schedule of grants allocated £900 for making a flat road from Waimana to Nukuhou, half a mile shorter than the present one 1 and also cutting out the climb over the hills with its numerous blind corners. It was thought however, that the lrmoval of this obstacle would encourage Waimana trade going to Opoiilu instead of Whakatane, and a Fecict petition was arranged for, ask'ng that the £900 be transferred to other Nukuhou roads, and the

council readily agreed to this. Every car and lorry driver, to tihe extent of many hundreds daily, now suffer from the council's parochial decision, when they grind up and down the unnecessary hill climb. The proposed lengthening of Opotiki's only outlet to Auckland, should prove an interesting tug-of-war between Whakatane and the people of Opotiki, including their county council, borough council, dairy company, and the late chamber of commerce. The Ohope Tunnel. It is recognised that a shorter, level, tar-sealed road from Opotiki to the railway station, might obviate the necessity for building the Ohope tunnel and the bridge over the mouth of Ohiwa harbour, which might mean the circulation of about half a million pounds round Whakatane. In the meantime, the present generation requires facilities for reaching its railway station without obstacles being placed in the way at unnccesasry cost. In the present tug-of-war, Opotiki has the advantage, that the main highway's board has laid down a policy of keeping the roads as short as possible, owing to the cost of building a tar-sealed road being several thousands of pounds per mile. It also as Tar as possible, avoids the taking of main highway through towns, which as in the present case, may become a city. From this. Opotiki seems to have all the advantage, but something more is wanted and it would not be wiste to put money on a tired horse just at present.