MINISTERIAL VISIT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 102, 17 May 1937, Page 3

MINISTERIAL VISIT

Our Own Correspondent) *

HON. F. JONES AT WAIROA

(From

WAIROA, Last Night. The Hon. F. Jones, Postmaster-Gen-eial and Minister of Defence, who is niaking a tour of the East Coast areas, arrivcd from Napier on Saturday. He inspected on the way various sections of the railways works, ineluding the idaduct. At 8 p.m. two deputations were heard in the Mayor 's xoom, the first being on the question of the Wairoa aeroflrome. Mr F. Berry and the Town Glerk, Mr H. H. O. Loiighlen, represented the Borough Council, Mr A. G. Nolan the County Council, and Mr S. M. Ashburn the Chamber of Commerce. Mr Berry very briefly set out the position before the Minister in reference to the high cost of the land, and with this handicap there was the additional cost of preparation, which would be too ccstly fdX the xatepayers unless there was. some substantial Government assistance. Mr Is'olan, on behalf of the County, endorsed Mr Berry presentation of the position. It was a question the backblockers were interested in financially, and the provision of funds to purchase the land was largely dependent on what assistance the Government could giv.e in the pieparation of the field. They would, befo're gomg any further, like to know what the Government waa prepaxec to do if the local bodies managcd Ihe purchase. Mr Ashburn voiced the interest of the Chamber of Commerce in the matter of providing an aerodrome for Wairoa. The Town Clerk, Mr O. Louglilen^ said the point had been raised that if a start was made with the aerodrome, say in the matter of land purchase, thj. ) " might ihcn be faced with anothti" heavy expenso for the preparation. of the aerodrome, hence they wanted to knoui the limit of the liability. Ttfh.- D. Coleman, M.P. for the distriet, warmly supported the claims of the several speakers. The Minister's Replv The Min,sler said he did not know that ho eould. give any decision in the matter; he outlined the Government 's poliey, which was that when the local bodies provided the land the Government would lielp with the labour for preparation. Jx they got together and did tho i'ormer the Government would treat Wairoa the same as other .local bodies. He was glad the promoters, liad realised the importance of air transucrt The chief concern lay with the Public Works Department, whose duty it was to prepaxe the land, after it had been purcha&ed, and when the matter came before the Minister the speaker would. be able to speak with confidence, but they could not givd Wairoa what they had refused others. Last year £300,000 had been voted for aerodrome purposes, and probably a similar vote would be made for this year. He would discuBs the matter with the Hon. R. Semple. He woulct. like to make it clear, regardinjg emergency landing grounds, that there should be one at least every 25 miles or 50 miles, and this would still leave xoom. for the WaiTba aerodrome as one of the landing places. Mr Berry tendered his thanks to fhe Minister for the hearing he had given them, and the Minister, replying, said the committee should get np Mr Gibson to Teport on the site, and the Govem'ment would be only too pleased,' flc* send him.

Waikokopu Harbour # Mr T. Corkill, chairman of the Harbour Board, extended a hearty welcome to the Minister, whom they were very pleased to see. He had a matter to bring np which was not in the Minister's departmeiit, but it had alreadjy been brought before the Minister of Marino. The time was coming, it was ptated, when the Government would be taking in hand to say where the harbours should be, but before going on to that subject he would like tw con«gratnlate the Government and the Public Works Department on the, near completion of the railway. The railway would bg here soon, and when tha Governmont took up the question of* where the deep-water harbour on the East Coast shoupld be, the Minils^tur would, he hoped, be able to see tWe, strength of -ithe position after visitin^ 'Waikokopu^ There was a harbour to the north and another to the Jsouth which had not fuliilled expectations, and at Waikokopu the boats lay out in 50 feet of water. He went on to stress the fact that it would be uneconomic to rail chilled beef 400 miles to the port of Wellington while they had a deep-sea harbour in the making, only needing the small expenditure of less than £100,000. The secretary of the board endorsed the chairman 's remarks, and the Minister said he could not commit the Gov. ernment, but he would see it for himutsif ncxt day so as to be in a position to speak when they reached that stage.