KIRIKIRI BRIDGE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4408, 1 May 1922, Page 4

KIRIKIRI BRIDGE.

APPLICATION FOR SUBSIDY. DEPUTATIONS TO MINISTER. The visit to Ngatea on Thursday of the Hon. Mr J. G. Coates, Minister of Public Works, was the occasion of a deputation waiting on him in order to impress him with the importance C|f bridging the Waihou River at Kirikiri, at the Thames end, and also to ask for a £ for £ subsidy for the work. ’ Mr J. C. Miller: chairman of the Hauraki Plains Cou'nty Council, stressing the importance of the bridge, said that a few years ago an effort had been made to build .a wooden bridge, but they now wished to have a more solid structure. The three local, bodies had agreed that an engineer should give an estimate. The engineer chosen had tested the foundations, which wer,e suitable for a ferro-concrete bridge, which the engineer recommended. It 1 would cost about £58,000 irrespective of the cost of carrying the loan. He asked for a 2 for £ subsidy from the Government. The bridge would link up the whole of' the peninsula with Auckland.. and would be the only through road from Thames to Auckland. Im his opinion the traffic over the bridge would probably surprise the most optimistic. There was a good 'deal of Crown land to be opened up, and that alone should warrant a bridge. There were perhaps a fexy in the district who thought that the bridge should not go there, but he maintained that there was no argument against it. 1 EDUCATION IN THAMES.' ■ Mr A. Hetherington, speaking on the bridge from an educational point of view, spoke as chairman of the High School Board of Governors. He said there were no children from the Plains attending the z ,school. All agreed that the children should have a good education. There was a good high school in Thames, and they were looking forward to the time when al! the Plains farmers would have their children educated there-. If the Kirikiri bridge existed there would be about 100 children attending the school from the Plains.

CLOSER TO HOSPITAL.

Dr Derrick, impressing the necessity of the bridge from a medical point of view, said it was impossible to have well equipped hospitals dotted all over the country, and for years to come the only hospital would be at Thames. He instanped a recent case in which an injured woman, suffering intense agony, died on the way from the Plains to the hospital. If the doctor in Turua must send a patient to the Thames Hospital, he knew the patient would suffer agony on the road.

Mr E. F. Adams, consulting engineer for the Thames Borough, said that Mr Powell had found the foundings sound to a considerable depth. He had recommended the Council to have a swing span instead of tlhe suggested draw bridge. THAMES BUSINESS.

Mr E. Miller,, Mayor o|fj Thames, regretting that .the Minister did not have ah opportunity to visit Thames, said the Kirikiri bridge ..matter had been befdre them for many years. It was 10. or 12 years ago when the bridge across the river at that point was mentioned. The Government had maintained that a ferry would be sub-

flcient for the present requirements, and a commission had decided that a ferry should be constructed a.nd the local bodies be rated. The ferry was of the commission’s design, and had been fbund unworkable. The £5OOO spent on it had therefore been wasted. The settlement had increased rapidly in the meantime, and if there was reason t’o ask for a bridge ten years

! ago there was added cause to ask for it now. The Prime Minister had visited Thames and the matter had been put to him. The Prime Minister had I suggested that if the local bodies ' would find half the money the matter would be considered. Other Ministers had visited the district and had viewed the matter sympathetically, but had said it was all a matter of money. Mr Coates : That’s it. The speaker continued that Mr Coate- had told them to settle tlhe site and other details and then again ‘ approach him. The three local bodies had agreed on t)he apportionment of the cost, and the Hauraki Plains County Council had been made the controlling body. The plans made by Mr Powell have been approved by the three bodies. Nothing further could now be done until the Government helped in the matter. The Thames Borough’s contribution was 40 per cent of what the local bodies would be required to find. The Hauraki Plains Cbunty would find 40 par cent, and Thames County 20 per cen:., on'the basis of the local bodies’ total contribution being £36,000’. The Borough had commenced a drainage scheme costing £98.000 and a roading scheme of £70,000, and other sm.aller schemes .to the total of £200,000. There were only 1000 ratepayers in the town, and they were doing all they could for the business Of the town. Thames was the natural outlet for the district and all tlhe Plains business must go through Thames. Mr Coates : What will Paeroa say to that ?

HELPING OTHERS. Mr Miller,, continuing, sajd th? Thames Borough would soon be carrying a loan of.2s in tlhe £ unimproved value. ‘‘We are not asking anything for ourselves,” he said, “but we are trying to assist the other local bodies which desire that connection.” If the subsidy were granted, he continued, the money would not be required at once, but would be spread over about three years. If tjie local bbdies could raise the loans they could, spend the loan money, first. TO BE CONSIDERED. ‘ , Mr Coates said he could not tell them just then what he would do. He knew nil the local conditions were fxed up. It was now a matter of how much he dould help. The money would have to go on the Estimates this year, if it was done at all. It was a question of how much the Premier could

give them'. The .three yearly instalments was a help. All the money :>i one year would be an obstacle. The matter would have a thorough overhauling, and he hoped the reply to the member for the district would be a sensible one. Mr Rhodes : And a favourable one. Mr Coates : I don’t know.