ACCESS ROADS FOR BACK COUNTRY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 64, 8 December 1937, Page 9

ACCESS ROADS FOR BACK COUNTRY

- Pregs Aisociation )

Minister's Determination To Tackle Work VOTE IN ESTIMATES

(By Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, Last Night. "I am sure county councils and settlers throughout New Zealand will derive very great satisfaction from the additional amount of money made available on the supplementary Estimates for improvement of settlement roading," the Minister of Public Works (Hon. K. Semple) said to-day, when commenting on the extended roading programme which is proposed by the Government for this financial year. The supplementary Estimates introduced in the House yesterday make provision for an amount of £541,360, additional to the sum of £1,046,000 wbleh has already been provided on the main Public Works Estimates passed by the House a few days ago. The total sum which Parliament has been asked to vote this year for country roading, apart from expenditurs on main highways, is thus £1,587,360. Pressing Needs. "The passing of these supplementary Estimates,1 ' said the Minister, "will mark the first step m my determination to tackle seriously the pressing need of' many settlers in ali parts of this country who i'or years have suffered the handicap of indifferent access. To fully grasp and understand the ramifications of the Public Works Department, it was necessary for me immediateiy I took control of the Department to visit all parts of New Zealand. I was impressed to such an extent with the needs of back-country settlers that I realised that by nothing short of a serious and determined effort. could any material improvement be cffected, and it was apparent to me that the position would have to be viewed over a period of years, and the problem approached in an organised and considered way. X therefore instrueted my Department to confer with county. councils throughout the country, to ascertain from them what settlers1 access roads required improvement, the nature and cost of such necessary improvement, and the relative order of urgency of the different roads, viewing the position over a period of five years.* This was done and the information received covered 6700 miles of roads giving access to 13,380 settlers at an estimated cost of £4,500,000. "The provision made on this year1# Supplementary Estimates is the' first step in our attempt .to get these settlers out of the mud within five years,11 said Mr. Semple, "and I am satisfied from personal observation • and from the in8.nj^ xepresentations "whicli iiavo beca made to me during my visits to the country districts that there will" be jubilation in many backbiock homes. "It is proposed under this. extended roading programme as far as possible to obtain men from the unemployment registers in the different localities, and, iu consideration of the labour thus absorbed, and .to that extent, the Employment Promotion Fund will reimburse the funds of my Department.11Assistance From Councils "County councils generally have been extremely helpful in assisting my Department to . obtain the necessary information,11 Mr. Semple said, "and where they have been able to do so they have mad^r offers of financial .'.ssistance. This, of course, is the customary procedure, but in many instances of thesa back-country roads it would aot be reasonable to expect local authorities or the settlers themselves to find any large proportion of the expenditure to be undertaken. In .these cases, therefore, it has been arranged that so much as can reasonably be given by the counties will be accepted and the metaCing eompleted as soon as possible. "I appeal to county councils with l I'onfidence to assist my department and the Government in this earnest attempt lo deal with what is indeed a pressing need. In many cases local bodies will be asked to undertake the works with their own organisation, and I am convinced from fhe many interviews I have had with local oodies that they will be ready and anxious to press forward to the full extent of the funds which will now become available. "I think it can be claimed that although in the past much- has jbeen said about the necessity of getting back-couutry settlers out of the mud this is the greatest attempt that has ever been made to faee up to the position,11 the Minister concluded. "It is an effective move forward. "I am satisfied that the best asset a country can have is an efficient Toading system, and it cannot be expectod that primary producer3 can competo effectively with producers in other parts of the world unless the means of transporting their production is efficient. "No effort will be spared bv my department to make this a record year so far as metalling the roads is concerned, and the future will be brightened for very many settlers by reason of this honest attempt to meet .their most pressing needs.11 H wmmmmmm