NAPIER'S ITS NEEDS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1626, 18 December 1912, Page 8

NAPIER'S ITS NEEDS.

DEPUTATION TO. ;HQN. W-'FRASEE.. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) . ■ Vvi'.i";,-. Naoier, December 17. _ The;Hon ; . ~W. Eraser, Minister for Public''^vorks','arrived in' Napier this evening to in relation to the recent temporary sto'ppage'of the East Coast railway, the utilisation of the waters of Lake Waikaremoana ;for electrification purposes,. and the proposed construction of a railway embankment across the inner harbour. The deputations comprised members of the,, Chamber.of Commerce, the Harbour Board, the; East Coast Bailway League, arid'tile County Council.

Tu re?aT,d,;jo' .the ..railway,, the Minister emphasised his previous statement, that tipj stoppage was only temporary, in view of the;.tinances .of. the country, and said that,i't..was. the "earnest desire of himself and' his' colleasiies to' see the completion of the-Naip-ier-Gisborne line. In regard to the. Waikaremoana, .electrification scheme,;the Minister said that the Government had decided- to.;wait to gee the result of the Lake Coleridge,-schemes before embarkii]g.;furfher 'in a similar enterprise. He also meritioned.that so ifar the work at'. Lake Coleridge; ;was; inside the estimate. question,^of an embankment in, relation tp,,,a., : site...whioh' r ,might,'affect the inner harbour proposals,' Mr. Eraser pointed out that all the 1 local bodies were not represented;.-,- , . r ; ;, .„ ... _ The deputations;suggested that the Minister; shoujd retji,rh. ; to. Napier about the end of January, and in; the meantime all -local bodies v should,.,mee.t. and come to nn agreement it-possible, and.sa'y, when he returns,..what .they, are .prepared to do in the,matter.'....i-. 1 >-..-.,.,,. -~. '....! To-morrow, tte Minister; who is accompanied by: Mr. Holmes, Engineer-in-Chief, will visit the site of the proposed embankment and the surrounding, country districts, returning to.Wellington on Thursday, morning. ~, ~■-.-' ~ ~- „ .