REVIEW OF GENERAL BAY TRADE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 35, 20 December 1950, Page 5

REVIEW OF GENERAL BAY TRADE

(Special to The Beacon) Wellington, Dec. 15

. “The general trade likely to be attracted by a Bay of Plenty port is an important factor in deciding whether a deep water port is needed and generally in determining the size and location of the most suitable port,” states the Bay of Plenty Port Inquiry Committee. “The Ministry of Works supplied us with extensive data as to the agricultural and pastoral production of the counties in the vicinity of the Bay of Plenty and as to the prospective growth of their productivity. This evidence was corroborated by officers of fhe Lands, Agriculture and Maori Affairs Departments, who satisfied us that large areas of unimproved or partially improved land in these counties were being brought.into production from year to year. Primary production, which is already considerable, appears likely to show a steady and indeed rapid increase for a considerable number of years. The breaking in of new land depends on the supply of fertiliser, the bulk of which is now brought by rail or road from Auckland. The export of their produce through the port of Auckland was claimed by Bay of Plenty farmers to be costly and inconvenient.

“The evidence did not satisfy us however that primary produce is yet available in sufficient quantity to justify the development of a port of export for primary produce and the consequential establishment of freezing works and related industries in the Bay of Plenty, but a policy of decentralisation of overseas shipping and the natural development of the district may render this desirable in due course. It is therefore important in planning the establishment of a port intended primarily for the timber trade, to see that it can be made ultimately into a final port of loading for primary produce. No representative of the Overseas Shipping Companies gave evidence to the Committee, so we do not know their views as to the establishment of an overseas port in the Bay of Plenty. “Apart however from the export of primary produce a considerable quantity of general trade should immediately be attracted by a Bay of Plenty port. A direct service with South Island ports is already operating from Tauranga. Cement, fer-f tiliser, oil fuel and possibly coal, may be expected to be brought in by sea in considerable quantities as soon as possible.”