OTAGO AND WESTLAND

Hokitika Guardian, 10 June 1926, Page 4

OTAGO AND WESTLAND

A USEFUL DISCUSSION.

Last week the Otago Expansion League met the members of Parliament representing Otago and Southland and discussed with them matters affecting provincial interests. A matter touched on was tho HAAST'PASS ROUTE.

Mr IT. M. Mackay referred to tho Hnast Pass road. To get there, lie said, it was a matter of days riding on horseback. There was no means of communiction except by a bridle track, and there were several streams to cross. The district was gifted with wonderful scenic and pastoral potentialities, but the great difficulty was to get the cattle to market. It was too risky to drive cattle to Central Otago. He hoped that the members would enlist the sympathy of the members of the north. They were very anxious that the Government should attend to

the making of proper road accommodation and to build bridges over tho rivers, for it was only by means of these improvements that the country could be exploited to the full. The timber that was being cut down to clear the land was absolutely going to waste through lack of means of transport.

Mr P. R. Sargood also spoke with reference to the Haast Pass Rond. He said they looked forward to the time when tho province would expand as it should. The locality to which he referred was one of the best from a sporting paint ;af violjw. They Iliad rainbow and brown trout, and quinnat salmon, and lie understood that- Mr Ayson was hatching out salmon ova for liberation tberc. There were immense quantities of timber, for which transport was essential. If they did not get transport they would have the same experience as Wanganui, where immense quantities of timber bad been destroyed by fire simply because there was no outlet. The timber, which covered a considerable range, was of excellent quality, and lie hoped that something would ho done to utilise it to tho host advantage. Several of the members of Parliament replied sympathetically.

The Hon G. AT. Thomson, who was very cordial, went on to advocate a thorough communication with Westland and the Luggate railway was only part of it. They must try to get a route through to the Const, as there were great possibilities ahead. A more vigorous action on the part oi the Minister of Tourist Resorts was essential. The tourist traffic in the South Island was going to ho a big thing, and they should do all they could to develop it. The Hon AT. Cohen also spoke and referred to tourist traffic and the need for developing the hack country of tho West Const.