THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is. incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1922. MINISTERIAL VISIT. HAURAKI DISTRICT’S OPPORTUNITY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4397, 31 March 1922, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is. incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1922. MINISTERIAL VISIT. HAURAKI DISTRICT’S OPPORTUNITY.

The visit to the Hauraki Plains on Monday of the Minister for Lands and Railways (Hon. D. H. Gntnrie) is one that will no doubt be taken full advantage of by the residents of the Hauraki district to put forward various requests of public importance. The Hauraki Plains County residents will have various projects to forward, but the leading one should be on behalf, of the proposed Paeroa-Pokeno railway, for in that railway lies the one and only satisfactory Solution of the .greatest problem besetting the Plains to-day ; namely,' how to get metal for roading purposes at anything likd a reasonable cost. When one goes into figures comparisons are astounding. Under the best of existing conditions metal costs at least 21s a yard.. landed, say, at Ngatea, by means of trucks and punts. This does not include the cost of putting the metal on the road and spreading. With a railway running across the Plains from Paeroa, the metal could-be secured from Tirohia or Thames, railed to the Paeroa railway junction, and landed at any point on the route for 10s a yard, or Ils less per yard than the present cost. At the very least, as soon as the Crown lands in the County are handed over to the control of the Hauraki Plains County Council, that body will have fifty miles of roads to metal. With a railway the metalling of this mileage would cost £44,000 less than it will cost if done by trucks and punts. Furthermore, there can be ’ little, doubt that with the further I sub-divisions which are bound to take place the mileage of roading will b'e doubled, and the excess of metalling cost would then be £BB,OOO. Bear in mind that these figures refer not to total, but to excess costs. It will readily be seen, therefore, that from the metalling point of view alone the Pae-roa-Pokeno railway is a project of vital importance to the development of the Hauraki Plains. It has been suggested that when the Kirikiri (Thames) bridge is constructed metal will be brought by road from -Thames quarries, but there are grpve drawbacks against .reliance on this method. In (the first place, it is hardly likely-that the ratepayers of the County as a whole are going to agree to be rated for this proposed bridge, which would benefit a certain area only, and it almost certain that a petition will be circulated demanding a poll, in which event the probabilities of the vote being favourable are extremely remote. But that .is a minor objection by comparison with the weakness that metal carriage by road does infinitely more damage to the reads traversed than the new metal does good. There have not been wanting proofs of this assertion, for cartage from Hikutaia and other quarries over the Plains roads has had to be stopped for this very reason. The railway is the only method whereby the metal could be. put on the road- with very little cartage and consequent damage, to the roads. -

There is also the question of a fresh water supply for the Hauraki Plains, which must be secured from the eastern side of the Waihou River. It is understood that the Public Works Department intends to provide this supply from the Waitawheta stream, and this project should be given practical shape without delay, for a supply of fresh water is the one thing needful to make Hauraki Plains farms the best in New Zealand.

Patetonga people will. doubtless seize the opportunity of Urging the need for the construction of the proposed Patetonga-Pae-roa canal, pointing out to the Minister that although Paeroa is the nearest railway junction, being only nine miles distant as the crow flies, the present road is over thirty miles around. There are other matters that will of course be brought forward, but these three, the railway, the fresh water supply, and the canal, are a long way above all others in their relation to the welfare and sound economic development of the Plains.