MUCH SECRECY SURROUNDS WORK ON NEW MURUPARA

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 32, 13 December 1948, Page 5

MUCH SECRECY SURROUNDS WORK ON NEW MURUPARA

Scheme Delayed: Must Start Soon

Work on the construction of the new timber town at Murupara is proceeding slowly, but is surrounded by a thick cloak of almost impenetrable departmental secrecy, a . Beacon reporter was told last week by a member of the Murupara •Chamber of Commerce. The results of some work can be seen already but when major construction is to begin is anybody’s guess. It is known now that the timber will be carted out by rail. The roads could not carry the traffic and with the view that the railway will be the main means of access much work has been done in the surveying, and already the proposed route has been pegged out. It will link up with the main line at Edge- • cumbe. Houses Being * Built Other signs that there are developments have been seen in the of all the land in the district, while some farmers have been -told that some of their property may be required for building. House building has begun in Murupara itself. A private company, the Te “Puke Sawmills, is now also erecting. homes and relaxation facilities for workmen, at Pokairoa or Rangitaiki Development, as it is also known. However, work is only going slowly and it isprobable that the delay is from the Forestry Department, who. are waiting a report from American forestry experts who recently examined the area. The amount of money to be spent on the scheme is very large and the department would be reluctant :to spend so, much without first making sure that it will be in the best interests of all. But the timber has reached maturity and will have to be cut soon, before to*o much is lost. \ When work does finally ' commence it will go at a terrific rate. It is expected that within five years there will be a town with a population of from 2,000 to 3,000, rising soon to 10,000, with the town itself being larger .than Whakatane. s The biggest' paper pulping mill in the. Southern Hemisphere is planned and it will have a staff of about a 1,000. It’s site has been selected. When the new Murupara is finally built it is likely that Whakatane will benefit considerably. The two towns will be linked by road, probably mush more improved, and by rail, but a bus service will be required from Edgecumbe.