SIX YEARS OF CHANGE

Chronicle (Levin), 10 April 1946, Page 4

SIX YEARS OF CHANGE

Levin's Potealialities for 1 Indastry PROGRfSS IMPRESSES VISITOR "Visiting Levin after a lapse of something like six years I cannot !help but remark on the extensive building of attractive homes that has taken rplace, which certalnly suggests ciyic confidence in the future of the town," said Mr. A. E. Lawrence, •of Timaru, this morning, who is spend a short holiday in L.eyin as the guest of his sister-in-law, Mrs. L. Suhaii, The .Ayenue, after attending the Education B.oardS' co.nference in Wellington, where he represented the Canterbary Education Board. Mr. Lawrence said he was impressed with the potentialities of •Levin as the centre of quite a variety of light industries, and he was interested to learn what already had been done in the esrablishment of industry in the town. But, he said, only ,a mere beg'inning had been made, and it behoved the municipal authorities, the commercial interests and all eoncerned in the progress and developmeno of Levin to be thoroughly alert to the immense possibi'lities olfering. -Secondary towns ltke Levin would certainly come into their own when the Dorriinion came to realise, as it is certainly .doing, though slowly, that there are eiements of danger from many angles in the massing of population in what have come to be - described as the four main /centres. Mr. Lawrence said it was clear that Levin had many. natural advantages to offer. It has adequate not overpriced land, with comparatively low rating, where modern | factories in attractive settings could !be located; Levin has a mild climate tand ,a rich back country; the town ihas an adequate water supply and | efficient electricity service but still ! continuing the demand for a flat. rate on the same level as th6 cities, I because there was no reason why factories and commercial establishments in Levin should pay more i or their electricity supplies thah the jsame businesses do in Wellington, jany more than railway" pastengers j should pay more to travel from ; Levin to Wellington than passengers from Wellington pay to come to Levin. Both are State services created to provide service for the ! community. Levin has also conJvenient transport facilities wici.in { easy distance of a shipping centre. •"But," added Mr. Lawrence, "more than all these things are required. The big question invariably asked by promoters of industrial expansion is: 'Is there adequate labour available?' "Levin is fortunate in another .aspect," Mr. Lawrence added. "The town and district have a splendidly equipped, well-staffed -and commodious college, which has facilities for preparing young people for training for employment in new industries and thus retaining them in the district. The Horowhenua College is one of the most up-to-date educational institutions of its khid in the D.ominion, und the college could contribute immensely to the development of light industries in the town, because unlike some other post-primary schools and colleges, it has a technical side to its wellbalanced educational courses providing for trade training, commercial courses, and classes in art as lapplied to industry, but the college imust of course find an outlet for jits products. The college could be | expanded, if the needs were there, j to become a techniological instijtute, to provide day and evening classes,. including qlasses for adults jin. the evening, to meet. the calls of i the industrial expansion. , j "It is a mistake to assume," Mr. ! Lawrence said, " "that all young people bred on the land prfer to adopt agricultural and pastoral pursuits as their avocation in life; on the contrary, many regard their schooling as an escape into professional industrial and commercial pursuits, and no calls to come back tc the land, however persistent and piessing will alter that. The college has all the facttities to prepare young people for training in the work of light industries. It remains then for the people of Levin to help themselves and their town by making every endeavour to attract industries, and where practicable, for •themselves to embark upon the establishment of suitable light industries. "It is tolerably certain," concluded Mr. Lawrence, "that the trend of industrial expansion in the near future will be away from the centres, where a dangerously unbaltanced economy is being created. |New industries will continue to go into the secondary provincial centres, which have so much ta offer and so much to gain for them- " selves by a change in the policy that will tend to stem the tide of population flowing into the cities. jThe menace this is creating can be jseen in the recent electoral boundjary changes. For instance, if the ! crowding into the main centres i'Continues, the Otaki electorate : -could quite easily become dominated ! by the portion of Upper Hutt, which has recently been added, and jwhic-h has no community of interest with the rest of the electorate. The electoral boundary changes have •revealed trends towards political abnormalities that are positively unhealthy to a county that i-depends for its existenee .upon the primary producer. Indeed the measure of the Dominion's prosperity reposes in the fortunes of the man on the land and the economic stability of the smaller provincial centres.