INDUSTRY FOR SHNNON

Chronicle (Levin), 1 April 1946, Page 3

INDUSTRY FOR SHNNON

PUBLIC DISCUSSION HELD MR. LOWRY IN SHANNON The May or ( Mr . R . . E . Downes ) presided over about fiffy citizens of Shannon and the :'surrounding district at a public meetirig held iri the Renown- Theatre on Thursday evening to diseuss the pqssibility of , the advancement of • Shannon ahd district, and . also .jto.; put forward suggestions of any; industry suitable for Shannon. Mr:. L. G; Lowry, M.P., and Mrs. Lowry were present. The Mayor welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Lowry and stated that he was very disappointed at the number of local people present. He stated that there were always a number of "street corner crities" who made all kinds of suggestions, but they were iipt prepared to come to the meeting and put forward their views! He stated that the meeting had been called to try to further the interests of the Shannon district. Some months ago a similar meeting had been held, and some wild schemes were put forward. The Mayor stated that. he saw no reason why there couid not be a factory of some kind in Shannon. He then asked the public to put up. any suggestions they had to offer. • ' • . . / ; •

Mr. V. Bateman wa.s the 'hrst to come forward, .'and he drew Mr Lowry's attention to the acute shortage of houses in Shannon, and stated that some six months ago tenders had been called for the building pf a number of State houses in this totyn, :t>ut so i .far only a small quantity of timber on the site was all that was to show for the new State houses. Mr. Bateman went on to state that if no accommodation was offering to industrial workers the outlook was very poor as far as getting an industry to Shannon was concerned. He asked that the matter of State houses be looked into and speeded up. Mr. Bateman stated that a busload of Shannon workers went to Foxton each day,-and another busload went to work at a factory at Tokomaru. "This," stated Mr. Bateman, "is no good for Shannon. The only answer to population increase in this town is an industry. Shannon offers everything for the situation of a factory— we have a good water supply, we are on 'the main railway line and the Iabour position is good." He suggested that a men's clothing industry should be set up in the town, and 'drew attention to the deplorable position with regard to the clothing position iri New Zealand. The Minister of Industries ahd Commerce had stated that it would be a number of years before the clothing position would be back to normal. Mr. Bateman said that there were machines standing idle in the cities owing to stkff shortage; "Why not transfer those machines to Shannon, where there are no labour problems?" asked Mr. Bateman. "With an industry here the town must prosper."

Mr. Lowry, m nis openmg remarks, expressed pleasure at being present to meet the citizens of Shannon and hoped for an interesting discussion. He said he was not disappointed at the number gathered, as, however small the crowd might be, if as the result of the discussion some suggestion was brought forward to make Shannon prosper, then the meeting was a success. Mr. Lowry offered congratulations to Mr. Bateman for his suggestions, and said that the matter of housing would be looked into. He then went on to explain that ' decentralisation of industry was necessary if we were to av.oid further congestion in our cities and towns. If labour in sufficient supply could not be obtained in the towns then encouragement must be given industry to venture further afield and erect their factories where labour was offering. This would spread the population and give tc young people the opportunity tc earn a livelihood without having tc lpnvp hhfiir homes. Mr. Lowry stated

that a Parliamentary committee was now dealing with the ways and means of decentralising industry. "The problem confronting us to-day is one of readjustment and reorganisation," said Mr. Lowry. "New Zealand is iikely to remain primary producing, and there is no likelihood of an industrial evolution such as took place in England in the 19th century. We have no minerals in any quantity in this country on which to base heavy industry. At the sa.me time it is questionable if it is wise to have all our eggs in one basket — what is desirable is a more balanced economy, a building up of economic secondary industry. War has given an excellent opportunity for New Zealand manufacturers to prove themselves." Mr. Lowry went on to explain the good results in the boot, clothing and paint industries during the war, and drew attention to the fine quality of clothing the manufacturers had made for our ; troops, so much so that Montgomery ,, himself had asked for New Zealand battle-dress for his own personal . 1IKR.

"In New Zealand we have the men with ability and providing raw materials are available, there is much that can be done to make us more self supporting," said Mr. Lowry. The speaker explained that the purpose of the meeting was to diseuss suggestions for the advancement of. Shannon, and asked if there were any citizens willing to , invest eapital in an enterprise, and if so what form would the enter- , prise take. Failing this, was there

•'i sufficient labour; off&tfing to induce outside eapital , -to operate in Shannon. :;Mr.:Lo,^ry asked if anything liad been U dorie in the way lioi approaching soft goods and textife manufacturers to open''a ;-fac;tory with: a r view to employirig local labpur. / The speaker !then asked if Shannon could claim possession of any raw iriaterial awaiting labour to. fashion it .,into -a. saleable commodity, and hif somethirig • worth whiie came frcim the meeting would a small deputation be prepared to proceed to Wellington and support him in 'presenting the - case^ to the K^ini^ter of Industries and Coiriirierce. Mr. Lowry stated, that the paramount thing to remember was that Shannon had to; be prepared to help itself in seekirig ; success and would have to 'hiavfe faith in its ability to accomplish success. "In the past Shannon had a great flax industry," said Mr. . Lowry. "Have you any suggestions to- offer: 4n place of that industry?" In conclii- : sion, Mr. Lowry thanked Mr. Bateman for his sound suggestion. Mr. D. Fitzgerald, who was the next spe'aker, said he. uriderstood that tlie paint factory at Miramar had to be shifted, and why not shift it to Shannon. If not the complete factory, then a branch? At this'stage of the meeting Mr. S. Shaw asked if a committee had been set up at the meeting some months agci, and if so, had that committee done anything further? Mr. Shaw was informed by the Mayor that no committee had been set up at the previoUs meeting, he thought that is why that meeting had proved a failure. He then suggested that a committee should ^be set up to go into what labour was offering in Shannon, and to gather other information-to present to the Minister,. of„ IridUstries and Commerce. The next' Spieaker was Mr. R. Teller, who stated that the Opiki district provided an ideal location for the growing of vegetables and asked if something could not be done in that direction. Mr. Lowry explained that there were only a few canning and dehydration factories operating in this country, and it "might be possible to interest one of these companies to open a branch there. On the other hand, canned and dehydrated foods would not find a big market in this country, where people could get their vegetables fresh. Mr. Lowry then explained' the "quick freeze" system, which had proved to be the better way of getting foods to the market. Mr. R. Herbert followed, and he spoke at some length about the housing shortage and the difficulty of obtaining housing permits, and also dealt with the five-day week and its disadvantages to business in this town. He suggested that the business people of Shannon should have a "brightening up" campaign, and make their shops an attractive place for the people to do business. He also agreed that a committee should be set up to go into the possibility of getting an industry for Shannon.

The next speaker, Mr. Sinclair, said the town was getting into a rut and it was up to everyone, young and old alike, to think ahead. Mr. Sinclair stated that any secondary industry would have to be connected with our primary industries. The Mayor at this stage called for a motion that a committee be set up, and it was decided that a committee of five members £>e formed. Nominations were called for and resulted in seven being nominated. A motion that the council be enlarged to eight members was put to the meeting and was lost. A ballot was taken and the following were elected: Mrs. .E. L. Hyde, Messrs. Herbert, Downes, Bateman and Fitzgerald. Mr. Downes then thanked Mr. Lowry for the assistance rie had given, and also thanked Mrs". Hyde for the work she had done in connection with the meeting and for giving the use of the theatre free of charge.