WAIRARAPA & RAIL ROUTES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1796, 8 July 1913, Page 7

WAIRARAPA & RAIL ROUTES.

THfc RIVAL SCHEMES. Mr. Coleman Phillips addressed tho council of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday respecting the proposed railway that is outlined to follow a route to the Lower Wairarapa Valley, by way of Petoue and the Wainui Valley, and so on through the heart of that fine block of country betwcizn the present trunk line to Napier and the East Coast. Mr. Phillips said that he had given the Masterton-Waipukurau route no consideration at all, bat he and Mr. Daniell (of Masterton) were the leaders'of the two factions as far as the other routes were concerned—tho Woodsido deviation and the romto via Wainui and MaTtinborough. Mr. Daniell had thought that it was a matter for the engineers to decide. For his part he thought that it was one for the people of Wellington to decide. The speaker then dealt with the engineering aspects of the routes, and .went on to sa£ that he advocated the railway being built by a private company. The route went through a very beautiful country—through Longbush, Brancpeth, Whareama, Tinui, and on to Waipuluirau. Some of this country was the finest dairying land in New Zealand. He also made tho point that the lower Wairarapa Valley .was as near Petone as tho Upper Hutt was by the route ho proposed, and that .was what he wanted tho people of Wellington to understand—how close it would bring this fine country to the city. With tho rating area this railway would command, ho thought there would be no difficulty in getting .£2,000,000 on tho London market for tho project. Tho total cost would, he estimated, be in the vicinity of 2i millions. . On the motion of Mr. James Macintosh, seconded bv Mr. F. W. Manton, it wa9 resolved: "'That a suib-comniittco of tho council, consisting of the president, vicepresident. Mr. Duthie, and the mover, be appointed to co-operate with the Masterton Chamber of Commerce and other local bodies in the Wairarapa and other affected districts, or such sub-committee 3 of these bodies as they may appoint, with a view to arriving nt a conclusion whereby joint and concerted action can quickly be taken to remove the disabilities under which the districts mentioned now labour With regard to railway communication." In moving the motion, in tho absence of Mr. Macintosh, the president said that he did not think that the council of the Chamber was prepared to pin its faith to any one route, but it was prepared to favour any eouind scliemo for the betterment of the whole district, whether it be Mr. Coleman Phillips's scheme, tho one favoured by -Mr. Daniell (of Masterton), or the one that the people of Pahiatua had in view. He thought that Mr. Macintosh had in mind the intention to go to Parliament this year, probably, with the idea of getting a committee of experts to report on the different routes. Tho alternative might be to have a. conference of the local bodies concerned to arrange for tho raising of funds for the survey of the routes and report on the matter.