Paeroa Railway Junction Extensions

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4415, 17 May 1922, Page 3

Paeroa Railway Junction Extensions

More Important than Frankton.

Gisborne, Tauranga, Paeroa, Auckland

Statesmanlike Glimpse into Future

Members of the Paeroa Chamber of Commerce were treated last evening to the most statesmanlike, constructive, and inspiring forecast of the fut.’..’e,of Paeroa tliat has ever been presented by any man or body of men to the community. For breadth o', thought, clear and far-seeing visiom, it is a masterpiece, fitted «o, be incorporated in any literature that may be published m reference to the Paeroa-Hauraki Plains district. This forecast, presented and read by Mr E. W. Porritt, President of the Chamber, on behalf of the .Executive Committee, is as follows, the first portion being an extract from the annua! report, dealing With tic junction crossing question:

AVOIDING BRIDGE OBSTRUCTION. "The great importance of keeping the Ohinemuri River open for future navigation and the prospective growth of the town caused your Committee to consider the advisability of - suggesting a slight •deviation of the proposed route of the Paeroa-Pqkenp railway, by the removal of the site for the proposed railway .bridge across the Waihou River to a site higher up, where It would not interfere for all .time with the future reopening of the Ohinemuri River for navigation up to the town, and wjhich removal would ; effect a saving in expense through the construction _of a bridge that Would have to cope with the flood waters of. the Waihou only, instead of the combined flopd waters , of; both, th?; Ohinemuri apd Waihou rivers. - :Yhui* ,Committee placed this the Hon. the Minister for Railways and .the Hon. the Minister for Public Works on their recent visits to this district, who both promised to give it consideration. In support of.the matter, your Committee suggested to. the Ministers referred to that there were certain advantages from a railway point of view that could also be taken into consideration in deciding on the question of the removal of the site of the bridge. The reasons actuating your Committee in referring to railway matters in connection with the question of navi- • gatior. are based upon the Government's future railway policy and the past expedience of other towns, whicn are set out in a supplementary report herewith. ... THE RAILWAYS POLICY. "The railways policy of the Government. as far as it is known at the “'present time, and as it affects this district, is as follows: "The construction of the PaeroaPokeno line is contingent upon the duplication of the Main Trunk line from Auckland to Pokeno, for tlie purpose pf relieving the traffic at present carried on a single line. The line from Paeroa .to Waihi will be continued to Tauranga, ' and from there to Gisborne. In later years it ' is proposed to construct the line from Gisborne to Napier, to connect up with .the Wellington-Napier line. There is also a probability of a loop line being constructed from either Mat ata of Rotorua to Tauranga linking up with the AucklandwGisborne line. On the duplication of the line from Auckland to Pokeno, and the construction of the line fjrpm Pokeno to Paeroa, all traffic on the maid trunk line for stations this side of Mprrinsville and for all stations on the Morrinsville-Rotorua lind will be. carried by way of. Pokeno and Paeroa, instead of through Frankton as at present. “On the completion of the line to Gisborne all Bay of Plenty traffic will be carried via Paeroa. The line, Auckland to Gisborne, will be a main trunk line, and Paeroa to Thames and Paeroa to Morrinsville will ‘be branch lines. MOST IMPORTANT JUNCTION. "Paeroa will be the most important junction on the Auckland-Gisborne line, and to cope with the traffic a large area of land will be required for shunting yards and accommpdatino;for railway rolling-istbck. A considerable number of railway men will be stationed here; such as enginedrivers, firemen, shunters,, signalmen, portets, engine and carriage cleaners, etc., for whom housing' accpmmodation will be required in railway houses. For 'this purpose land will be required—at Frankton there are about 25 acres occupied for railway purposes and this is already found to be too small, and additional area :■> required.' PROVISION FOR FUTURE. “There is every indication that Paeroa will be a larger and more important junction than Frankton ; tlie necessity for adequate provision for. future -railway requirements is therefore apparent, and should, as a sound policy, be acquired while land is available for that purpose (which may not necessarily involve the removal of a passenger station and platform from the present railway station site). With increasing traffic there will be a corresponding expansion of the town and an increased businessalso an increased' river traffic feeding to and distributing from the railway. Such provision fo” future railway requirements and town expansion should preferably be laid out in conjunction with some welldevised scheme of town planning, and not be carried out in a piece-meal and haphazard way. BENEFIT BY EXPERIENCE. "Experience in other towns has proved the necessity for such, a course. At Auckland, the station is to be moved to obtain more area, and to prevent the present congestion of road traffic. At Frankton additional area is now required ; at Te Kuiti • the station was shifted ; at Palmerston Ncrth, railway traffic through the town became a nuisance and restricted area prevented an efficient carrying on of the railway seryice.. A Royal Commission recommended the removal of. the station and yards out of the town, which work has now

been commenced, and will entail enormous expense. At. Wellington, traffic from Lambton Station through the city to Te Aro has been discontinued for some, years. At Dunedin, road traffic is 'held up by barriers during the arrival and departure of trains and duripg shunting operations. Other instances might be quoted, showing the necessity of looking ahead to prevent , mistakes being made, which could probably never-be rectified, or if rectified wduld involve a heavy expenditure that might have been avoided by the exercise of sufficient foresight. INCOMPARABLY SUPERIOR LAND. “ Comparing the fertility of the Hauraki Plains and the country surrounding Paeroa with the land around Hamilton, it ican fairly be assumed that when the railway is through and the roading problem solved, the expansion and progress of Paeroa will equal., if not exceed, 'the, progress of Hamilton, and provision for such expansion should in the pubUc interest be made now or in the immediate future. Land .apparently suitable for the purposes mentioned, in close proximity to tihe town, is now available in the considerable area of Native land and farm land on the south bank of the Ohinemuri River, from .the traffic bridge to Mill road. In some years to come this land may be found necessary for railway expansion and be then fpund closely settled and not then available without payment of; an immense sum as compensation. Engine sheds, shunting tracks, standing "room for rolling stock, railwaymen’s dwellings, etc., 'on that area would not necessarily involve the removal from the present site of the passenger station, but this is a matter for the Railway Department itself to decide, on its experience in the efficient handling of passenger and goods traffic.

’ INTERDEPENDENT POLICIES. “ Consideration of the foregoing Jed your committee to suggest to the Minister for Public. Works that in deciding tbe matter of the location of the ‘railway bridge, the railway question should be considered in conjunction with those of navigation and public works.” THE DISCUSSION, There was a general chorus of; approval and even admiration of the report, several members making complimentary references. Mr Porritt thanked the members for the ■ expression of appreciation of the report of the executive committee. Mr D. Leach said that members may at times overestimate the possibilities of the place, but if all the people had a good lively faith in ths town |t would progress immensely, SUPREMACY OF NAVIGATION. Mr G. Buchanan said, he had to take the responsibility of? advocating the deviation of the railway, on account of the impossibility of conservr ing navigation interests if a railway bridge were put at the Puke., One had to look fifty years ahead., when all the mines would be closed. The main asset Paeroa had as a future was the possibility of boats coming up to the town. Direct river communication was ■ necessary to make a distributing centre* second tv -me in the Do.minipn. The president said that when the matter was moved before the executive by Mr Buchanan, it was a farmer outside of; Paerpa (Mr J. Munro) who seconded the motion, thus shewing its wide application. • Mr D. Leach said the .whole of ths executive supported the proposal. PAEROA-PLAINS RAILWAY. Mr W. D. Keys said the PaeioaPokeno railway, according to the Minister pf Public Works, would not start for 15 years. It was better to be concerned with a bird in the hand than one in the bush. There was a movement afoot to have a light line constructed from Paeroa to WaitakaruruThis would be of immediate benefit, and should be investigated by the Chamber.

Mr W. Marshall moved that the balance-sheet be adopted, subject to audit, and the report adopted, and the members’ appreciation recorded. —Carried. PLAINS PEOPLE AGITATING. [We publish hereunder an article received this morning frpm the “Gazette” resident staff reporter for the Hauraki Plains, in reference to the pronosed Paeroa—Plains railway. Ed., "Gazette.”] PAEROA-POKENO RAILWAY. A SUGGESTION. FOR IMMEDIATE CONSTRUCTION. ("Gazette” Staff Reporter.) Ngatea, this day. A suggestion to hasten the progress of; the Paeroa-Pokeno railway project was made recently to a Gazette itporter by Mr H.allyburton Johnstone, of Ngatea. The idea is that the settlers most directly concerned should contribute to its cost for its immediate construction. It is estimated that they would be more than recompensed by the additional enhancement on the value of their land the railway through their wonderfully

fertilc area would give. It is understood that a similar suggestion was made some little time ago, but :io support was then- forthcoming. It will not be out of place, however, if this similar suggestion is again pu forward for the settlers’ consideration. ’ <

“I would suggest,” said.. Mr Johnstone, "that the settlers on both sides of the proposed route pay 10s per acre, the money to be charged on a sliding scale. This would bring in a large sum; which should only be given if the Government puts the railway through right away. But the ‘go-slow’ must be-done away with, not like (be Waiuku railway, which has cost more than double what it should. I think one contract for the whole line would ’be the best, and then we would know what it is going to cost. It would pay as soon as it is put through, as there is a very large coal mine on the route, and also good metal. All the settlers will very soon want co.al, as wood is now becoming very scarce, and we will want plenty of metal on the Plains, I have, spoken to a number of men at Pokeno and they are keen on this proposal.” COMMENT. The settlers will readily agree with Mr Johnstone’s contentions, especially regarding the necessity for metalIt is also practically certain that the railway will pay immediately it is completed. The facts are, therefore, reduced to this : the settlers want the railway ; it will be d great boon to them in many’ways, and will enhance their property values. Now, are the settlers ready to help themselves a little to secure the railway’s immediate construction by each contributing a comparatively small amount ?