VIEWS OF THE MAYOR
A PROSPEROUS TOWN WAIROA MUST GO AHEAD The Mayor of Wairoa. (Mr. J. Corfcill) in the course of an interview, voiced the general feeling of confidence in the town and district. Referring to harbour matters, Mr. Corkill said that about 15 years ago the entrance got so bad that it was imperative that something should he. done. Of course the population was smaller than that now, and they were not able to handle a big undertaking. A sum of £5000 was borrowed, and'with a Government snb-t aidy of £1500, was spent on improve ing the entrance. For a time some adtago was reaped, but later on the work done 'only went t<j show that something more substantial was necessary. Tho I progressive peopie of the district never ceased to work, with the object of having a permanent improvement effected. lAook a good deal of energy to carry the poll to raise a loan of £78,000 for harbour works, on the estimate of the engineer. The works have now been in progress for three years, and in two or three months will, be completed. So far as can be judged at present, the undertaking is going to be a huge.success, although till some of the- winter floods and heavy seas are felt the full value will not be shown. ."For this time of the year the communication has never been so good • during the last 28 years. We have practically had hoats every day during the summer, and as this has been the driest year that has ever been experienced, with the rivers naturally low, we have already got a good deal to be .thankful for. Under the old conditions the port would have practically been
dosed during-the summer. A little damage was caused by the May floods to the start of the training walls, which ■were composed of loose nibble, but'no damage whatever was done to the mam structure. The improved depth of water on the bar was very noticeable, as small vessels were arriving 'and departing at low water, a thing unheard of m the past. The improved communication, said Mr. Corkill, was going to be the making of tho district. The Mayor was also confident that the town would overcome all difficulties and ( rise to a prosperous position. The possibilities of Wairoa, he- said, owing to its geographical situation, were very great. He did not think that it would be long before Wairoa would be the distributing, centre. Even now they occasionally got boats direct from northern and southern centres, and as the district improved they would undoubtedly have regular direct communication with the .bigger centres of New Zealand. The town was commercially prosperous, arid there was a good deal of "go-ahead" in the people who held the reins of power. Municipal enterprise had been marked for years past, and now the great problem they were facing was an adequate water supply. That was now engaging the attention of the council, and with the possibility of freezing works being started m the near future the combined efforts of the borough and the freezing company would be' joined up. Several schemes were under consideration, and "in his opinion Water could be brought to the town for about £30,000.. Tho subject of the East Coast railway has long been a' sore one with the people of tho district, who have failed to see why a start could not be made to join up the line from their town. Apparently, said Mr. Corkill, the Government was now making a start to fix up the line,, which would touch the river close to the town. • The convenience to the country people in enabling them to get their produce into the port would enhance the value of the land, and increase the revenue of the port. When the first sod was turned at Wairoa the town and district would be pushed anead rapidly. , . ,
There are many sports clubs m Wairoa and the athletic prowess of the citizens has been heard of in different parts of New Zealand. The Wairoa River-affords many facilities for boating and the Wairoa Rowing Club, is strongly supported by the youn" men of the town. At many outside, reeattas in New Zealand the club has been represented, and the success gamed has
shown that tho club is full of talent. There is » bowling and croquet lawn combined in the town, while the cricket and tennis clubs flourish. The tennis grounds are artistically laid out, and, mainly owing to the efforts of the Town Clerk (Mr. It- T. Esther), who controls them are a beauty spot of great value. In the winter golf claims its votarios, while' nuworous footbajl elubs hold Owing to the war causing difficulty in obtaining men for tho (ire brigade the London County Couiibi' has decided tu ofl'er a bonus of 10s.. to each new lnembor of the brigade
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19150211.2.14
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2382, 11 February 1915, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
817VIEWS OF THE MAYOR Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2382, 11 February 1915, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.