EAST COAST ACCESS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 51, 23 February 1945, Page 5

EAST COAST ACCESS

*• COURSE OF STATE HIGHWAY

| A JLOCAL BODY CONFERENCE

SiNTERESTS SHARPLY DEFINED

Convened by the Whakatane Harbour the conference •of Borough local authorities) and 'County representatives which took place last Wednesday for the purpose of defining a uniform opinion as to the course ■of the proposed East Coast State Highway showed a sharp line of •demarcation existe'd between Borough and County interests. Following a prolonged' discussion ; a motion and: counter motion resulted in, a decision to segregate -Borough opinion alone. The result was a joint motion by the Borough Council, Harbour Board and Chamber of Commerce delegates urging the' construction of "the State Highway through the town and from thence by the shortest route to Opotiki. Thirty delegates attended tljie meeting 'which probably gave rise to the widlest expression of opinion yet ht'ard 1 in Whakatane with regard to the vexed question of the East Coast highway. The organisations represented were the Borough and County Councils Harbour Board Chamber of Commerce and Retailers' Association, together with the . Main Highways Board representative (Mr J. L. Burnett), and Paper Mills interests. Mr W. Sullivan M.P. was also pre-

-sent. . The Chairman Mr W. R. Boon. j » u said that the sole, reason for calling the meeting was the desire of the -Harbour Board to get unanimity of on what course the highway shoukl take. Only in this way could 1 it be expected to make successful representations to tlie Government. 1 The Harbour Board was vitally in- e terested in tlie suggestion that the s route should be across the Board's mudflats. This would mean an ad- ' justment in the existing sub-division- v al plan which the Board would Avel- 1 •come if the concensus of opinion in * the Borough was behind such a pro- * ;ject. . He contended that whatever 1 •was decided that day the minority s should get behind the majority and t sink their differences in order to f -achieve a common ambition. Route Described 1 The County Engineer } Mr C. H. Brebner, then sketched the course J 'Of the new proposed route Avhich ( - the Borough interests were sponsor- 1 ing. This showed the crossing of the 1 river by a new bridge south of the. ' Paper Mills linking up with Hine- s moa Street and making its way " . across the Harbour Board's* endowed ( mudflat area, clown the rear of the 1 Strand and circling in a wide curve 1 round the bacK of the pah } 1 .mounting by steady grades to Hill- ( crest. All but a short section of this 1 route lie said had been already surveyed. Mr A. J. Canning spoke strongly •' in favour of tlie new suggestion ( which he declared superior in every •way to the Maraetotara Gorge. The ■ ■ effect upon the town would be a ' 100 per cent., making - lor an improved waterfront road and opening ■ up new sections for settlement on Hillcrest. Mr R. W. Scholieltl traced the history of the highway agitation in Whakatane from the time when he . as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce called a public meeting to discuss the matter with the late Mr A. G. Hultquist M.P. The result had been an overwhelming endorsejjjgnt of the route surveyed by the late Mr G. H. Rand and had been further backed by a petition signed by 800 residents. So far nothing had occurred publicly since then to intimate that there had been any change of public opinion, and he still considered the original route the best. He urged the meeting to • consider the question not from the point of view of present-day requirements but rather from those that would obtain in 25 years when the Borough would quite probably carry a population of 10 000. The policy of all main and state highways wa3 to traverse the shortest route between town and town and he considered that the present one should be constructed.. without any local politics coming into it. Borough Council's Stand The Borough Council's attitude was outlined by Mr B. S. Barry, the Mayor who said that it desired to have.the State highway go as near . as possible to the Borough conducive with practical engineering. They had been given, plainly to un--derstand that there was little hope for sanction of the waterfront load. " Therefore 4 they had concentrated on what was* termed the more practical

route of the Maraetotara Gorge. If however departmental sanction could be gained for the proposal before the meeting he was sure the Borough would give it every support. The Borough only wanted to back something which it had a logical chance of getting. Mr Schofielci urged the meeting to be dominated by public opinion rather than by those expressed by P.W.D. engineers. It' the public had stood up to the P.W.D. more in the past there would have been a great deal more accomplished in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Mr Boon agreed that the meeting was. there today to discover a popular route which he urged when once discovered should be backed to the full by everybody. If it was found impracticable by the engineers then it was time to relinquish any further representations. Asked to give an opinion as to the cost of the waterfront road, Mr Brebner said that he did not consider it would be any dearer to construct than that which was. suggested for the Maraetotara. The. upkeep too, he thought, would be much cheaper. "I am opposed to the main highway coming through the said Mr G. A. Brabant. In England they are. now spending thousands of pounds to take the main highways away from the larger centres where the congested traffic constitutes a grave danger. I think it would also spoil Ohope as a summer resort to send ail through tratfic along its length. I suggest we apply for a scenic road to go via Maraetotara and Wainui to Opotiki.

Must Be Unanirpous The County Mr J. L. Burnett deplored the absence of unanimity amongst, those present and said that unless- this could be attained it would be treated by the Government as a further chance to hold the matter up. He drew attention to the manner in. which the late Mr A. G. Hultquist had been pulled one way and another by varying sections of public opinion, and asked delegates to recall how the roads had suffered because the Main Highways Board had refused to spend money on sealing until a common policy could be formulated. From the. County's point of view the proposed new waterfront route would suit them very well as the present tendency Avas to con\ 7 erge Tauranga and through traffic at a junction near Edgecumbe where plans for an expensive river bridge Avere already prepared. Such a project did not find favour with the County. He urged, howevei, that Borough interests once the Government. had decided to fix the road along one. definite course should get strongly behind it and allow its construction to go ahead. It was obvious that Opotiki strongly favoured

the Tancatua-Waimana route and lor this reason the County "was mainly in favour of the construction of good sealed highway s ? irrespective of the routes they took. Users of the Roads Mr W. Sullivan expressed his> pleasure at the Refinement of the County's attitude by Mr Burnett. It was high time that all local bodies in the Bay of Plenty were unanimous on the question of main highways where the existing roads were the worst in New Zealand. The

money that had been found by users of the roads in the Bay of Plenty had never been spent in this district and as long as two schools of thought existed the Government would do nothing to improve the position. Every time his car went to Opotiki he paid seven shillings tax which should go towards improving the road facilities. It was well-known that the main highway route from Gisbornc through the Waioeka to Opotiki hail already been planned together with another route round the East Cape. There still existed the gap between Whakatane ant Opotiki and the course the highway would take. If ail local bodies were in agreement there would be no trouble in getting right on with the job and linking the through route from Tauranga to Gisborne. Opotiki was bound to fight for a goo route to the. railhead at Taneatua. He did not blame them. He contended that support should be given in that direction as well as the proposed route which would link Whakatane up with the network of established highways. w Mr Burnett: Are the Borough concerned whether a State highway should come into their a own or a good tarsealed road? Mr Barry: Definitely. Mr Burnett: Well, that is just where you are likely to fall down if you will not be content with a good feeder road to a State highway. Must be State Highway

Mr Barry explained that unless the road through Whakatane was a State highway the Borough Council

would be faced with one-third of the cost ol' its construction. This was an impossibility owing to its limited finances. The. construction of a State highway was borne entirely by the Government. Mr Boon contended that there was little chance of, a State highway ever coming through Whakatane. It was a waste of time to think that it. could ever be diverted from Taneatua. He urged that Whakatane should be satisfied with a maiy highway providing it Avas a good tarsealed road. Mr Barry said that the Borough could not possibly stand such a heavy financial drain for a moment. Mr Brabant: Let us go for two roads. The Stafc highway and the scenic road. Mr W. Bridger pointed out that Opotiki was. just double the distance from Whakatane today that it was 40 years ago. Support for the Mayor was forthcoming from Mr J. Creeke who maintained that unless the State highway was brought through the town, the alternative route would never be constructed. Whakatane was mainly concerned with the prospect of being by-passed again as it had been, by the railway. The Chairman: I had hoped that we would be unanimous today. If there. arc. two different schools of thought we will never get anything done. Joint Borough Motion

After several attempts at formulating a motion, Messrs {Jarry and Schofield agreed upon the following : That this meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board, Borough Council and Chamber of Commerce favours the construction of the Tau-ranga-Wliakatane-Opotiki State highway through the Borough of Whnkatane preferably by the route defined on the Harbour Board's plan and across that Board's endowment totara Gorge which ever the Main totara Gorge whichever the Main Highways Board considered best. Mr Brabant moved an amendment that the meeting adjourn for a week and invite the P.W.D. engineer to come to Wha'katane and discuss the whole subject of the highway. This was seconded by Mr Ruddick who maintained that the logical course was the inland route through the settled areas. The amendment, when put to the meeting was lost. The discussion was re-opened again when Mr McGougan declared that the country dwellers needed good roads every bit as much as those in the towns. He was backed in this contention by Mr Butler who said that most of the rates for roading work came from the County, and therefore., country residents should have a strong voice in the course and construction of the main thoroughfares.

Amendment Unpopular Mr Burnett then moved a further amendment: 'That as this meeting is unable to make, up its mind with regard to the route which should be followed by the Bay of Plenty State Highway the whole matter should be represented to the Main Highways Board with a view to obtaining its opinion as to how Wha-. katane was. to be. connected with the State highway system in the Bay of Plenty. Mr McGougan seconded. The amendment was strongly criticised by Mr Barry who declared that if it went forward it would destroy the district's whole case. A& far as the Borough and the Harbour Board were concerned he considered that, all differences had been settled. It remained only for the County interests to fall into line.. Mr C. T. Smith said that while he appreciated the need lor good roads in the County, in his opinion the broad principle was that the main arterial roads should link centre with centre. Therefore the linking of Whakatane with Tauranga and Opotiki was the correct thing. Mr Sullivan asked who was empowered to vote on the motion before the meeting. He suggested that the whole subjest justified a special meeting when it could be rediscussed and some sort of compromise reached between town and country interests.

Mr Barry did not think there was any chance of the two schools oi thought ever being joined. Their interests were too far apart. Mr Burnett agreed to withdraw his amendment whereupon the point was raised by Messrsi Mitchell and Ruddick of the Harbour Board who declared that as County ratepayers they would not be a party to bringing the State highway through Whakatane if by so doing it would mean imposing a further burden on the County Council by way of an extra stretch of main highway for County maintenance. Mr Sullivan's Views Mr Sullivan then moved a further amendment: 'That all the local bodies

concerned should reconsider this very ] important question and that the j chairman Mr W. R. Boon, should call a further conference before the visit of the Main Highways Board to Whakatane, at which three delegates from each local body should endeavour to conic to some sounu conclusion of common progress. Mr Sullivan added that- unless a united policy could be formulated it was futile to pass any motion at all. Mr Morpeth seconded. The amendment, on being put to the meeting was lost, and the original motion with County delegates excluded from voting thereon was i carried with two dissentients-..