THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1921. PROSPECTS OF PAEROA.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4319, 19 September 1921, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1921. PROSPECTS OF PAEROA.

People are often heard to say, “Is Paeroa i eally going to advance ?’’ The believer in the future of Paeroa at least has the gratification that in the minds of those .who previously had no faith in the town there is now a distinct doubt, a wavering, which is the half-way house to conversion to the prevalent belief 'that Paeroa has a great future in store. To the mind that has not been soured by reverses and that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick, there is full confidence in the future of Paeroa; indeed, it is difficult to see how the town could possibly be prevented from attaining such proportions as would be commensurate with a natural railway junction centre for the famous Hauraki Plains, and having roads and railway*'; leading to and from Auckland (with the Paeroa-Pokeno railway to come in addition), the Bay of Plenty, the Waikato, and the Coromandel Peninsula. Some people say, “Well, why has -Paeroa not made much progress during all these years ?” The obvious answer to this question is that the mining industry has collapsed, but that of farming has not been half developed as yet, but is fast coming on. It must, always be borne in mind by those who really want to know what the future of Paeroa will be, that this town cannot logically be compared to any other town in New Zealand, nor for that matter, to any other town in the British Empire. It is in the unique. position that it is a railway junction situated in a commanding position in relation to 30,000 or 40,000 acres of firstclass dairying land, about 12,000 of which is acknowledged to be equal at least to any other dairying* land in the Dominion—some experts say in the world —and yet, owing to the utter absence of a single road to one section (Patetonga) and the bad condition of the roads to another (Ngatea), Paeroa is cut off to a large extent from the very district from which its commercial life-blood should be drawn. But with the remarkable development of the Hauraki Plains County, which reputable authorities consider must largely come down to 50-acre farms, the provision of good roads is easily in sight. Not only will the roads between Paeroa, Kerepeehi, and Ngatea be made good, but sooner or later the five miles or so of communication necessary to join us up with Patetonga—only nine miles distant—must be provided. And it is certain that when this road is made the residents of Patetonga and district, who now have to travel thirty miles to Morrinsville or thirty-two miles to Thames, will be glad to make Paeroa their centre.JWithin a very short period now there will in all probability be a daily motor service running to and from the Plains and Paeroa, which will doubtless increase the trade to some extent, but roads, which must come eventually, are what Paeroa’s prosperity depends upon. The motor service will be a potent argument for good roads. And when the required

roads are provided—to say nothing of the Paeroa-Pokeno railway—there will be several hundreds of farmers coming into Paeroa regularly who now do not come here at all, or only rarely. Range the Dominion from Auckland to the Bluff, and it would not be possible to find a town where the immediate future holds such alluring prospects as are visible on the horizon at Paeroa —a future which judicious optimism, pushful enterprise, and a determination to make the place move despite all rebuffs, will do much to hasten the realisation of.