The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY. FEBRUARY 20. 1923 GREYMOUTH PORT.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 February 1923, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian MONDAY. FEBRUARY 20. 1923 GREYMOUTH PORT.

Last week the Grey River Argus had occasion to refer to the port of Greymouth—“such as it is”—to quote the Argus definition. The reference of our contemporary was of an opportune nature. Seeing that the greater part of Westland has been associated against its will with the fortunes of the Greymouth port, the people of this district, at least for the time being, would do well to sit up and pay some attention to the matter. The Greymouth morning paper was referring to the ambitious desires of the Greymouth Harbor Board (a nominee body) to create a deep sen harbor. The personnel ot the Board is essentially Greymouth in its leanings nd it is conceitable now that s>- much outside rateable territory has been thrown into the Greymouth Harbor district, that an 1 ambitious Board will he keen to increase the v ; due of the port with the help of outsiders who in the aggregate would have to bear a larger share of the cost fhan the people- of Greymouth—those most dirpctly concerned in the bating P? the Tl s ? ; ,

gns very fairly at this important juncture calls on the Board to wait and see what effect the Midland railway to Canterbury is going to have on the fortunes of the existing port before launching out on a costly harbor scheme to afford a deep soa anchorage. The harbor to-day is quite equal to the requirements of the port and the district. In two or three months 1 time it seems likely that sixty or seventy percent of the shipping freights will be diverted through Arthurs’ Pass tunnel so that there is the fullest wisdom for the interposition of the OrOy River Argus and the greatest common sense expressed in the advice to wait and see what "ill come to pass so rwy soon. Feeing that the East and West Coast railway will link the whole of the West Coast railway system with the splendidly equipped deep sea harbor at Lyttelton, wliat reason can there ho in seeking to waste money in a costly scheme at Greymouth in the endeavor to build an outer harbor to seaward and enclose it with moles, inside which large shipping can hope to lie in safety. When we remember the tremendous seas which roll in on this coast at intermittent periods, the cost of moles or breakwaters to withstand such tcrriffic onslaughts can well he realised, and surely it would be a folly to impose upon the people of Westland any portion of the cost of such a piece of useless extravagance. The fact that the minds of the nominee members of the Board are turning in that direction is a very good hint for the people of Westland to strive to get out of the harbor district with the least possible delay. This territory was very unfairly roped into the harbor district, and seing that the present year will witness the opening of the railways and the provision for the export and import of the essential trade of the district, a monster petition to Parliament should he circulated for signature in advance for next session, praying foi the exclusion of the whole of the County of Westland and its interior Boroughs from ihc rating area, of the Greymouth Harbor District. Ihc trade of the people which might pass through the port of Greymouth can well he paid for hv a wharfage rate for the commodities actually passing over the wharf. The bulk of the trade from Westland will go via the tunnel to Lyttelton or elsewhere on the East Coast. Certainly all the dairying products and stock for export will pass that- way, and it is not unlikely that oversea, bottoms will load load West Const timber at Lyttelton for external export. This matter of relief to the people of Westland from the possible extravagances of the Greymouth Harbor Board should be taken up actively, and the present juncture appears an opportune time to suggest the necessary activity.