DEPUTATION TO MR FRASER ON PORT ACCESS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 60, 7 November 1949, Page 5

DEPUTATION TO MR FRASER ON PORT ACCESS

Though tlie local body conference at Rotorua last month appointed a deputation to put the case urgently to the Prime Minister for the incorporation of fertiliser and freezing works in any scheme for the development of Bay of "Plenty port facilities and the provision of first class state highways to give direct access to the port, when the deputation met Mr Fraser at Rotorua on Saturday morning it made representations on the highways question only. Consequently, Mr R. W. Dunning, the only man present from this side of Te Puke and a farmers’ representative, felt it his duty to point out to the Prime Minister the other matters that should have been brought to his attention, and this he has done by a letter, a precis of which is published later in this article.

Interviewed by the Beacon on his return from Rotorua, Mr Dunning said that ®before he got there and before the deputation went to see Mr Fraser, it had appointed Mr V. C. Florey spokesman, and instructed him to deal only with the question of direct access by road to Tauranga from other areas that would be concerned if a port were built at Tauranga. Apart from Mr Dunning, the deputation was representative of local bodies in the Rotorua, Tauranga and Te Puke areas. Mr Florey asked Mr Fraser to consider the question of making the Rotorua-Tauranga road over the Mamaku route (45 miles) a first class highway and bringing the old road through Ngongotaha up to the same standard.

Mr Fraser said he was fully sympathetic on the question of the roads, and he spoke at length on the farming and milling potentialities of the Rotorua area. “More Than Disappointed”

Discussing the deputation with the Beacon yesterday, Mr Dunning said he was “more than disappointed” that the important matters at issue had not been placed before the Prime Minister,. Beside the questions of a fertiliser works and a port tlje question of roads was quite a minor issue, subsidiary to the larger plans.

However, in the circumstances he felt there was no possibility of introducing other subjects into tlie discussion with Mr Fraser, but decided to state in writing his views and the views he believed to be those of the people he represented. So he wrote (enclosing copies of reports of the Rotorua conference): “Since the matters to be placed before you /by this deputation were narrowed down to the question of reading, it was not possible for me to introduce other matters, but it cannot be said that the whole of the Bay is unanimous concerning the proposed fertiliser works, freezing works and port. In fact, there is considerable divergence of opiuion. At the Rotorua conference, the motions passed were carried by no means unanimously. v “Mr Spence (chairman of the Rangitaiki Plains Dairy Co. running the largest factory; in the distirct involved) and others are most concerned at the manner in which the conference was run. “We as an organisation '(Federated Farmers) are not concerned where the port goes, except that we want to be certain it goes in the best place. Farmers in the areas involved .are most concerned that no scheme which is adopted should raise the rates on their land, and that any roads should interfere as little as pdssible with their farming practices. Fertiliser & Freezing Works “Regarding a fertiliser works, it might be more advantageous to establish re-grinding plants and dumps and feed outlying areas from existing railways, particularly as farmers require delivery during a short period of the year. This would obviate long road hauls, save expensive maintenance of roads and the cost of construction of entirely new works. “The freezing works question needs most careful consideration as regards the effect it might have on existing works.” He concluded by explaining that he had taken this step because, in his opinion, the deputation had not put before the Prime Minister the matters the conference had instructed it to discuss with him.