TANEATUA RAIL LINK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 2, 5 March 1947, Page 5

TANEATUA RAIL LINK

POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE VISIT BY MINISTER TANEATUA-OPOTIKI SECTION NEEDED At the monthly meeting of the Opotiki Chamber of Commerce held last week, and presided over by the president, Mr A. G. Stevenson, the chamber decided to urge the completion of the Taneatua-Opotiki section of the railway link, pointing out that any railway which did not include Opotiki was no good to this district.

Hon. R. Semple, Minister of Works, stated in a letter in reply to enquiries by the chamber regarding the Taneatua-Motuhora rail link, he could assure the Chamber that the Government was giving every consideration to the proposal, and was fully aware of the necessity of providing adequate means of communication between Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty.

The Government was faced with a huge demand for construction work, and in view of the shortage of manpower and materials could undertake work only in order of urgency. « The minister was sure he did not need to mention the very difficult nature of the country which exists between. Gisborne and the Bay of Plenty. The construction of the line asked for by the Chamber would be an extremely costly undertaking, and for that reason every possible alternative must be fully investigated before any decision to start work is made. Certainly before a decision is made in regard to the railway, the possibility of obtaining the connection by means of construction of a modern well-aligned and graded highway must be taken into' consideration and this aspect of the matter is now being looked into. Mr Semple said that the hoped to be in a position shortly to visit the Bay of Plenty and discuss with local authorities works which they consider should have priority in regard to the general development of the district, as he had done in other regional areas throughout New Zealand. At such a meeting the whole question of connection as between the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast will no doubt come up for consideration, and the relative merits of the various proposals fully discussed. A copy of the minister’s letter was forwarded by the chamber to Mr W. Sullivan, M.P., and in reply, Mr Sullivan stated that while in Wellington lately he had again discussed the question with the Commissioner of Works, Railway Manager, and others. He would endeavour to visit Opotiki on Show day and meet Mr Hislop* the mayor, Mr T. G. Johnson, and the County Council chairman, Mr W. A. Gault. Many matters regarding the Bay of Plenty were in the offing and Mr Sullivan would be glad to avail himself of the opinions of those gentlemen.

The Gisborne Chamber of Commerce, thanked the Opotiki chamber for forwarding a copy of the minister’s letter, and stated that it was far from satisfied /with the turn that events appear J;o be taking now in connection with the proposed line. They felt that the time had arrived for pressure to be again put on the minister to adhere to his original promise of commencing the survey at a very early date. To that end the chamber had written to the minister asking him to proceed to his promised Opotiki 10-year-plan meeting, via Gisborne, when members of the chamber would discuss ‘the matter with him and proceed with him to that meeting. It was further suggested that an invitation be issued to Auckland, Tauranga, Whakatane, Opotiki and Gisborne Chambers to wait on Mr Semple at Opotiki and thus bring as much pressure to bear as possible on him, regarding the matter. The Opotiki Chamber, in reply to the Gisborne Chamber, stated that in view of the pledges given by the present and past Governments to extend the railhead from Taneatua to Opotiki, that the chamber should concentrate its efforts in seeing that that pledge was carried out. When that work was completed it would reduce the gap between Opotiki and Motuhora from approximately 50 miles to 20 miles. Not only would this work be most desirable to the Opotiki district, but it would be a greater incentive to the Government to complete the gap of 20 miles and thereby give access to Gisborne and the main East Coast railway circuit. Although Opotiki was vitally interested in rail connection with Taneatua and Motuhora, it wished to dissociate itself from ' any parochial leanings. While the chamber realised the many advantages to be gained by bridging the gap between Taneatua and Motuhora, it wished, however, to make it perfectly clear that any

extension of the railhead that does not connect with Opotiki is of no use to Opotiki. The chamber asked the Gisborne Chamber’s assistance in impressing on the Government the national importance of completing the gap between Taneatua and Motuhora via Opotiki. After a brief discussion on the corespondence, it was left to the railway committee to deal with matters as they arose.