THE GREYMOUTH AND MARSDEN ROAD.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1047, 4 December 1871, Page 2

THE GREYMOUTH AND MARSDEN ROAD.

The following is a full report of the debate which took place in the Borough Council on Friday evening last with regard to the above line of road : — Mr Kennedy moved, " That the construction of the main road from Marsden to Grey mouth is a work calculated to influence very materially, either beneficially or, otherwise the interests of the; borough and district generally. This; Council therefore, is of opinion thai the Limestone and Sawyer's Creek route should be adopted, being in comparison with the Omotumotu route a level road, and generally more level country, is four miles shorter, and would bring the entire traffic of the road through the town, to the advantage of the business people and the ratepayers generally, and would also enable Greymouth to command the trade of the Greenstone and New River ; and the saving effected in the adoption of this route in the cost of construction would in all probability pay for the extension of the road to the Arnold. That a copy of the above be sent to the member for Grey Valley and the Minister for Public Works." He said he brought- this question before thje Council because he knew that much diversity of opinion existed on the subjeot among the residents, and he thought that the more publicity that was given to the details of the question the better it would be for the interests of . the town and district. Consequently, any facts or arguments which he or any other member could bring forward with regard to these routes ought to be brought forward and placed before the public, in order to enable them to arrive at a conclusion, for he was satisfied, from conversations he had held with many persons, that very little was generally known of the merits of the question. He had gone to some trouble, and ascertained a number of facts which he would place before the Council. The first proposition contained in the resolution he had brought forward was that the construction of this road by either routes was calculated to influence materially either beneficially or otherwise tho town and district. In considering this they rauat remember that whichever route was adopted would be the one which would bring the community of the district into contact, and would enable goods to be conveyed at the smallest possible amount of freight, and in order to do this they must have the cheapest and best road in every sense of the word. Two routes were proposed at the present time, and as it had been publicly stated as most probable that the one which the majority favored would be adopted, it behoved the community to take particular care that they adopted the proper route, and did not wake up too late to disapprove of the course they were now pursuing The ' route via the Limestone and Sawyer's Creek was 8| miles from Marsden to Greymouth, and the route via the Omotumotu Creek was 12£ miles. On the Sawyers Creek route the highest elevation was 411 f t; on the Omotumotu Creek route it rose to 931 ft, making a difference in favor of the former route of 520 ft, besides the difference of four miles in length, so that in the point of levels and distance it was conclusively proved that J the Sawyers Creek route was the most i preferable. Any person who knew what t the traffic over the road would be, must know that the elevation itself was a very i serious consideration, especially when it I was known that the Omotumotu Creek - road rose about 831 ft within If miles. That fact of itself would make the road to some extent ruinous to the traffic. It , was so steep that the Government originally fixed a gradient not to exceed ]in l§ ; but that had to be abandoned, and now in order to carry the road that way it might have to be 1 in 5. Mr Coates : That is for the Engineer, and not for this Council. L Mr Kennedy was placing information i before the Council, and he hoped he i would be listened to, and that any gentleman who had arguments to advance in i opposition would do so when he had > had finished. They had to look not so i much at a mere comparison of the two r routes, as the question influencing the r prosperity of this place, they must con- , aider that so far as regards thei traffic, , they might make a great mistake. The I road was now being pushed on from the i Hokitika end, and from there to Marsden i, it was comparatively smooth, so that a . waggon with five horses could make two . trips in the week from Hokitika to MarsL den, and goods could be landed there i at L 2 per ton. If the Omotumotu Creek » route was adopted, a waggon could only . use three horses, and could only make . one trip to Marsden in the week [ Mr Coates : How about the tramway ? ' The Mayor called Mr Coates to order. Mr Coaxes : It is outside of our bounds . altogether ; did'nt the County Chairman tell you so? ; The Mayor : Don't interrupt, you can i move an amendment when Mr Kennedy i is done. . Mr Kennedy said he was considering fie : question of a road that affected the mii terests of the district generally, and so far as that was concerned, he would not give place to auy man in the district. Supposing both road^ to be in gqod condition, even in the matter of freight, we would be shut out of our own territory. The question had also to be considered that the road from Hokitika to Greenstone and Marsden was to be at once proceeded with, and if the line from Greymouth was carried by way of Omotumoto, it would be two years before the road was fit for traffic, as the middle section of it was so very inaccessible. Uow, if the Hokitika merchants had one or two years start of Greymouth in securing the trade of the Marsden and New River Districts, it would be very difficult to put them out again. Besides, the Hokitika portion of the road would be a year older, and therefore a year better, for traffic. If the Sawyer's Creek route were adopted, there was nothing to prevent its being proceeded with at once, and speedily completed, so as to put the Greymouth people on equal terms with Hokitika and enable them to compete for the Greenstone trade. If the shorter and more level route w;is adopted, the townspeople could i asily deliver their goods in and around Marsdeu at Greymouth prices,; whioh would very greatly benefit the mining 'community. Another important ; point was that if the Omotumotu Creek route was adopted, it was extremely improbable that it would be carried any further than the Race-course, so that instead- of having ,a road into town, they* wolild have an

•opposition towhship'sftcrted at tKe'Ohidfcamotu Creek. They had, the authority of Mr Blacketfc that it was not • likely the road would he brought further than the Race- course,' in consequence* of the line alongside the river being required for the Railway. With regard to the rival township, it was very easy for people to say that they had the trade and would keep it, but. they had saen by. experience that if a few persons in good position commenced building places up there, all the others would be compelled to follow, and it would give the: opportunity to all per* sons who were travelling between -Westland - and the . Grey Valley of> not coming to town ,at all. He estimated that at present the travelling portion of the community spent annually in Greymouth something like L5OOO, and if the country went a-head as was expected this amount would be trebelled. .To say that the wholesale merchants did not consider this was wrong, becau&e they Were all dependent upon one another, and if by a false move of this sort property in town was seriously depreciated, everyone must suffer. As a case in point he had only to point to the manner in which Lyttelton had suffered by the opening of the railway. How it was only a shipping port, and the head - quarters of all the business was in Christchurch. It had been argued that the road to Hoki4 tika would be too long for merchants in that town to compete for the trade ; but he thought the length had been exagge^ rated, and that it would only be about 35 miles. This was not much in comparison with the dangerous beach road, and they might depend upon it that once there was a good inland road very little traffic would come along the beach. Looking at the question, from a County point of view, the Sawyers Greek road would be four miles shorter, and the maintenance of four miles of road was something serious. It was easy to say it was a General Government work ; but it would be all charged to the district again, and the County had very little money at its disposal to spend in repairing roads. He had authority for stating that these additional four miles of road would cost the County annually about L5OO for maihtenance, and of course the steeper the road the more it would cost. Then, again, there were the mail subsidies, in which, if the short and level road was adopted, would not amornit to more than one-half what they would by the other route. This would amount to L5OO . per annum, and on the two items of maintenance and subsidies he had pointed out an annual saving of LlOOO per annum by adopting the Sawyers Creek road.. The interests of the mining community had also to be considered, and if the Sawyers Creek route was adopted, they would get their provisions much cheaper ; and when they wished to come to town, they would be saved travelling a distanoe of four miles each way, making on every journey to the Warden's Office, a difference of eight miles. If the road terminated at the Race-course, would the people be satisfied 1 They wanted a road out of the town, and they would not have an inch more road then than they had now. There would then be an outcry for a branch road the other way ; but the Government would tell them they were too late, the money was all spent ; they had decided to have the road the other way, and must now sufier. for their mistakes. The present was therefore the time to consider the question fully, and for any one to bring forward all the information ;he possibly could regarding it. It had also been publicly stated that the Omoturaptu road would open Up a very important country, but he thought the persons who said so should travel over the two routes before they compared them. The Omotumotu route would open up very little country of any value except in the vicinity of German Terraoe, and that was nearly worked out now ; but the other route would open up a very important country, a very large portion of which had been proved to be auriferous, and the value which was, set upon other portions of it was shown by the competition which had lately taken place for it. It had been argued that a branch road could be made by Sawyers Creek to join the road by Omotumotu ; 'but this was a mistake, as it could not'be done without being carried all the way to Marsden. There was very little in the argument of some that the, garrying of the road from the centre of the town would open up additional business sites iir competition with the front street, because these streets would very soon be opened up by the Borough Council. There was nothing iv it, because taking the example of Hokitika, the opening up of the back streets there had not taken the business from Revell street. These were a few arguments in favor of the route by Sawyers Creek and Limestone, and he thought it was his duty to advance them, as much good might be effected by ventilating the subject. He wished for discussion, in order that the best road for the town and district might be adopted, and that they might not be cutting the ground from under their own feet. He believed the supporters of the Omotumotu route were labouring under a misapprehension, and if they considered the question calmly they would come to his way of thinking. Thu was a matter which came more home to the Council than any other Question of roa.4s and bridges they had ever considered, notwithstanding the letter of the County Chairman. He concluded by expressing a hope that the subject would be treated with the importance it demanded. Mr Dupre seconded the motion. Mr Moore agreed with a good deal that had been said by Mr Kennedy. Public opinion on the question was divided, ant) it could not be settled by a public meeting. Lately, a public tnaeting w,as held, which was unanimous in favor of the Omotumotu route, and three days after a petition was signed by two-thirds of the residents in the district against it. What he would like to see would be the vote of the whole of the ratepayers in town taken upon the question. He did not care what was the opinion of one or two individuals, he wished the whole people to decide it. He had his own opinion, -but there were '-many outside of that Council who were in a better position to judge which route would be most beneficial for the entire community, and he- thought they should have, an opportunity of recording their votes. ; Mr Coatbs agreed with the last speaker that the people ought to decide how this road should go. They had longwanted a road up tha river, and in the meantime Marsden was supplied by the tramway. With regard- t«>Hbkitikaobmpetition there was very little in, that argument, as the

extra toll-gates traffic would have to pass through would cure that. He never before heard it said that the General Government would only take the road as far as the Race-course. Surely the Government never intended to leave it there, and not bring it into town. The Omotumotu route would open up a large track of country abont the 'Left-hand Branehj wMcn*was payable if miners could; get their .provisions cheap, whereas all the country by the other route was already opened up by the tramway. Mr Purcem. supported the resolution, and considered Mr Kennedy's arguments sufficient to justify the making of the road by- Sawyers Greek. 4 Most benefit would be derived by the people generally from the road coming right into town. He was in favor of allowing the people to say by their votes which of the two routes should be adopted. ' ; Mr Smith was taken by surprise at such a motion having been brought forward. No doubt notice had been given in the usual form, but he was not aware of it, or of the nature of the motion. He could not quite agree with many of Mr Kennedy's arguments. He said that because the gradient was altered from 1 in 13 it must necessarily be lia 5, whereas it might be lin 12. The mover of the resolution had first argued that the trade would be removed from the town to fhe Omotumotu Creek, and afterwards argued that it wa» ; impossible to take the trade away from where ifc ( now was. He thought there was nothing in the argument that a new township would be formed at the . Omotumotu Creek ; and this was the first time he; had- heard, it mentioned that the road would stop at the Creek, "The public meeting which had been referred to was called by the opponents of the Omotumotu road,- audyet it proved to be unanimously in favor of it, not a inau having the courage to come forward arid say a ..word in favor of the Sawyers Creek route. J No doubt in niany cases it was advisable to have the shortest, road, but in this case that road was already opened up by the tramways, and the road by Omotumotu would open up a large hew district for mining and settlement. He believed the Council did not fairly represent the people of the town, as the members could not rid themselves of their own personal feelings. It was not fair, therefore, to bring a resolution of this nature before them, and say that by their votes on it they were representing the feeling 6f the public at large, and then transmitting the resolution arrived at to the authorities. . Mr M'Gregob supported the resolution. . Mr Moore asked that his suggestion as to the vote should be added to the resolu- ■ tign. Mr Kennedy said the members were only asked by the resolution to. express their own opinions on the question — that did not bind' the ratepayers, who could take any action they chose regarding it. | 1 . - Mr Moore thought that they were supposed to represent the opinions of the 1 ratepayers, and when a difficult question of this nature arose, they ought to refer it to those who returned them. Mr Kennedy could not accept the sugtion. The Mayor expressed his satisfaction at hearing a public question of so much importance so calmly and ably discussed wjihout the slightest personality., i/lt Kenned} had very- ably laid the merits of 1 the two roads before- them, and the. arguments adduced required much consideration. : For himself he liked the idea of taking a vote by ballot of the inhabitants on'a question of so much importance, and then no reflections could afterwards be cast upon any person for the vote he had given. ', , .; , , - MtMoobe thenmovedasan amendment, "That in order to arrive at a- fair and. reasonafele.decision on this question, it ig advisable, that th,e opinion of the ratei payers be taken by ballot." • Mr Coates seconded the amendment^ and was surprised that any Councillor should oppose it. Mr Smith supported the amendment^ Mr Kennedy spoke at some length in reply to the arguments used, and pressed his resolution.'- .^ ' ..- • The amendment was- : then put and negatived, and the resolution carried^ : iT Mr Moore then obtained the suspension of the Standing Orders, and moved his amendment as a resolution. /. Mr Coates seconded the motion. ' . Mr Kennedy did not object to the course suggested for obtaining the public opinion, but he objected to the Council initiating such a proceeding. It was time to do so when the ratepayers asked them. He opposed the resolution on that ground, and moved as an amendment— "That the Council at its rising adjourn until Wednesday, and that the question be post? poned %o that day, in order to give the public an opportunity of considering the action taken by tiie Council to-night." Mr Purcelli seconded the amendment, which was carried, and the other business was proceeded with.