OHOPE PROSPECTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 68, 3 January 1947, Page 5

OHOPE PROSPECTS

RESORT OR SETTLEMENT

FUTURE IN THE BALANCE There are not as many holiday makers at Ohope as usual. Upon this point there is general agreement. True it may be said that the holiday season is not yet at its highest peak. On the other hand it is freely admitted that the Xmas crowd is even less than during the war years when travelling wlis curtailed and when rigid rationing made holidays of any description difficult.

The weather may have had some bearing but the signs as far as we can guage them are unmistakeable. Ohope has reached saturation point and must be expanded if it is to maintain its reputation as a resort. The problem has its roots in the drastic housing shortage and accommodation question in Whakatane itself. Not only is every available structure utilised in town but also throughout the year, every bach and hutment at Ohope Beach has been at a premium.

We estimate that if all the home seekers now forced to live more or less permanently at the beach could find accommodation in the town, Whakatane’s population would grow by some 300 or 400 overnight.

In view of this, what chance has the average holiday visitor, of hiring a house or a bach over the Xmas and New Year holidays. No, the problem is local, and can only be solved by a readjustment of local conditions. No longer is it possible for a group of young fellows to hire a bach or a garage at Ohope for the holidays. They have all been occupied for months before by permanent tenants. Neither is it possible to rent and occupy those furnished cottages once such a feature of the beach. It has simply meant that the average holiday-maker from distance apart from those travelling by car and caravan cannot be accommodated at Ohope until the overflow population from Whakatane is accommodated in the town.

But there is another side to the question! Ohope has long since left the stage when it 'could be described as beach-cum-residential resort. It cannot be confined much longer to the single access road—Pohutukawa Avenue. It must be allowed to expand and now is the time when it can do that naturally and with a minimum of discomfort. The newlyauthorised subdivision of Mr R. Cobbe’s along the Eastern end is noted with satisfaction, but it was a pity that those who first planned Ohope made no provision for expansion inland. The beach is studded with hillocks and intervening vallies which would lend themselves admirably to side-roads from the single existing service road.

Why should there not be immediate representations to the Native Department, for the acquisition of a new belt of country for settlement! We visualise a rising seaside township, pleasantly situated among the hills, and annually attracting thousands of visitors if this were done.

The need for some such action is quite apparent to all who study Ohope’s growth, and we cannot see that the Department would be averse to such a deal in view of the enhanced value of the land concerned, and the fact that it could be easily replaced by substantial areas under the Development scheme further back. Splendid work has already been accomplished by the promoters of the scheme, and there is every prospect why the sale of that area adjoining Ohope should be welcomed as a sound financial investment for the Maori, and as a progressive and attractive move for the district as a whole.

Ohope definitely has ‘growing pains.’ To meet the- situation it how requires a vigorous policy of development on the part of its residents and the administrating local authority, the County Council. The residents have the instruments through which to work in their Domain Board and their Progress League. Backed by the unanimous voice of • these bodies, the County Council if it has the expansion of the beach at heart at all, must do the right thing.