Gore Works Decision Defended

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30979, 8 February 1966, Page 3

Gore Works Decision Defended

(N Z. Press Association) INVERCARGILL. February 7. The Mayor of Dunedin, Mr R. J. Calvert, was today strongly criticised for the comments he made about Gore’s potential and the intentions of the Gore committee which made submissions to the South Island Freezing Works Investigating Committee. His comments, made on Saturday, were described as “foolish” and “nonsense.”

Mr Calvert, who fiercely condemned the committee’s recommendation that the new freezing works be sited in the Gore area, said: “I consider this to be a very wrong decision by the investigating !>

committee ... I am astounded at the site chosen. “Southland is adequately served to meet present needs and even those from Southland who put the case at the hearing intended it to be in support of another application in seven or eight years’ time. It was not seriously intended for this freezing works.” He said the area chosen could be said to have reached its full potential, whereas expansion in Central Otago was young. “Nonsense” Mr A. J. Harris, the officer in charge of the grassland division of the D.S.I.R. at Gore, who contributed to the Southland submissions at the Dunedin hearing, described as “nonsense” the statement that Gore could be said to have reached its full potential. “The high fertility areas of the region, which geographically and commercially, must include West Otago, have only reached 50 per cent of

their potential, Mr Harris said. He quoted the example of one farmer in the region who ajmost doubled his farm’s carrying capacity in five years. This slightly less than 500-acre farm five years ago carried 2200 ewes, giving a carrying capacity about equal that of the present average. Today the farm carried 3800 ewes, an average of eight ewes an acre. Managerial Changes To achieve this mainly managerial changes had been made—increasing stock and improving feeding management —as well as subdivision changes, and extra drainage. Mr Harris said the fanner concerned believed he had not yet reached the full potential of his land. He said the example of this farmer could be duplicated by others in the region, many of whom were actually showing increases which could lead to similar results.

Mr W. S. Johnston, the chairman of the committee which prepared and placed before the investigating committee the submissions in favour of Gore, described Mr Calvert’s allegations that those from Southland who put the case had intended it to be in support of another in seven or eight years’ time and had not seriously intended it for this works as “foolish and false.” On The Fringe “The Gore farming region is only on the fringe of development and great production increases can be expected to come from the existing pasture lands rather than from undeveloped country,” he said. “All applications, other than Gore’s, heard at the Dunedin submissions depended on the spending of hundreds of thousands. even millions, of pounds, on such things as irrigation and roading.