The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Tuesdays and Fridays. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1946 WHAKATANE ROAD ACCESS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 49, 5 March 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Tuesdays and Fridays. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1946 WHAKATANE ROAD ACCESS

SOMETHING of a milestone has been reached in local body politics as far as Whakatane is concerned in the complete accord which has now been found between Borough, County and Harbour Board interests regarding the proposed course of the Tauranga State Highway and its approach to the Borough. It would appear that at long last the old dictum unity is strength’ has been fully appreciated and that the united voice, for which we have looked in vain for so long, has at last taken life and will give utterance to the needs and desides of the residents of Whakatane Borough and County m a manner which will brook no denial. Representations from the three bodies concerned will be made to the Hon. R. Semple, Minister of Works, when he visits this district some time after March 20, and the course which will be emphasised will have the wholehearted support of town ana country interests. Under this happy state of affairs we have every reason to hope for a sympathetic hearing from the Minister with regard to the popular choice of a route which will not only give the town a vastly improved ax-ess route but will also link up with the badly neglected Wainui highway which has given rise to so many complaints in the past. County ratepayers will likewise have every cause for satisfaction in that the course of the Rotorua State Highway has already been pegged through White Pine Bush, to Taneatua, via Waimana and Nukuhou to Opotiki, and that the proposal for the Tauranga route will mean additional State sponsored highways through areas badly in need of opening up. The idea of following the Te Rahu course in order to be permanently above flood level is a praiseworthy one which should have everything to commend it as far as the Department is concerned. It is a point too, which supported by the new bridge proposal crossing the river south of the Paper Mills and giving direct access to Piripai and Puparuhe the twin settlements' growing up round the Mill area. The old Borough Bridge has been condemned many years and its replacement is inevitable. Why not now, while the new highway is under consideration. We have the greatest faith in the new unanimous proposal going forward which is undoubtedly worthy of. the rapid progress which Whakatane has made over the past ten years.