TURUA BERTHAGE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4966, 26 April 1926, Page 4

TURUA BERTHAGE.

AN ABORTIVE CONFERENCE. DIFFERENT SITES OPPOSED. “Arc you going to nave those d piles pulled out ?” Thus did the chairman or the Turua Town Board open the conference with representatives of the Thames Harbour Board at Turua on Friday morning, after admitting that the ruling of Mi- Coulter, chairman of the Harbour Board, in regard to the representation he would permit the Town Board and the Hauraki Plainjs County Council to have a,t the conference had “put hi. j back right up.” “They were put there for a purpose, and it is considered they should remain, and as, far as I, am concerned there they Will remain,” replied Mr Coulter, after taking exception to the! laiiiguage of Mr Mules. With this beginning it is not surprising that no decision was reached and the\ meeting lasteid some hours;. The piles were driven near the Turua wharf on the assertion that they were necessary to protect the wharf from injury. The immediate effect was to prevent metal punts coming to the berthage made for the; purpose, but the ultimate effect will be very far-reaching. As punts, could not be used, the , bitumen-sealing of Piako Road was seriously delayed, and an inferior class of stone has had to be used. In consequence of the work not being completed, the County Council's machinery has: been hung up, and thus road work .about Netherton has suffered. With the, probable breaking of the weather in the near future these few months’ delay will, mean impassable roads during the winter. The damage having beqn done, the pc'silion could not be rigr.tod. To prevent the restriction applying .to further work, the Town: Board and the County Council desired the piles removed.

The matter has been, the subject of much discussion and correspondence during, the last few months, and .as a result' the representatives of the Harbour Board visited Turua. with the purpose, the chairman announced, of arranging another berthage place that would be acceptable to' all parties. ' ■

Cr. Miller asked whether it war not possible .to compromise and have the piles, shifted to ; a position that would permit of the berthage being- useji and at the same’ time protect the wharf. He pointed out .the' mrW ,advantages of the present site and. the disadvantages of using the wharf,'and remarked tnat the iberthage would' always 'be required Hor the landing of metal.

The -engineer to- -the Harbour Board said that it was quite possible, to have, the piles,placed ini another position, as suggested, but ’it would be more costly. ' If they had been placed parallel to the river they wtould have required double-bracing to be made strong enough to hold a t punt. The piles would have to be about 12ft apa’rt, and he doubted if there would be’ room between .the groups of piles and the riverbank unlqss there was some excavation. This work would be more expensive than making a new berthage elsewhere. From an engineering and from a. progressive view point the facilities should be provided on the wharf. The present method was not worthy, in Ibis opinion, of a town of the standing; of Turua. Mr Mules pointed ou,t that it would; not be economically sound to extend the Wharf.. The Harbour Board would then charge such a hi;gh wharfage rate to reimburse itself that the. cost, of

metal would be ma t de prohibitive. He pointed out that since the berthagq had been improved the punts had not slipped and no damage whatever had been done.

Mr Coulter said there seemed an impression on the Plains that the Thames Harbour Board was a,ntagonistic to the district- This rias wrong, as the Harbour Board ha,d done, more for the Plains side of the river than for the other side. The people of Turua knew how their wharf w as financed. The board w.a,nted to do what it could, but at the same time conserve the interests of the ratepayers of the whole of the harbour district. He did not want to handicap the district, and really came to discuss the possibilities of making a new landing above or below the ,wharf, or ,to provide the necessary facilities on the wharf. He would be gl,ad to know how much, meta,! would be landed during the next twelve months.

Mr Mules and Or. Miber pointed out that the quantity would not be very great. The settlens got a. lot of metal at odd times, but not sufficient, to warrant the erection of a crane or the provision of a new berthage placet Mr Coulter agreed that the expenditure would no.t be warranted. In reply to Mr Mules Mr Adams said tha,t the damage done to the wharf was, not great, but he contended .that, more damage might have been caused if the. work had been allowed to continue.

Mr Coulter said it appeared to be well known in Turua who had caused the damage, but no one would tell the board so that .it could take, steps to. recover. The Turua, people were not doing their duty, and it was not a desirable. feature that the community sided with those wjho did the damage rather than with the board. Mr Mules said that there w.ais little chance of any more, damage being done. Since the. berthage had been improved by the Town Board the punts ha,d not slipped. The conference was, brought to an abrupt close by the entry of the chairman of the Hauraki Drainage' Board, who announced .that the room w,as required for another meeting. Au adjournment was made to the riverbank, where the advantages of new sitesrfor berthage places were pointed out by the Harbour Board delegation and negated by the local men, who, in addition, pointed out that such an expenditure was not warranted. Despite this Mr Coulter urged the adoption of various sites, and suggested that the cost be.equally borne by the Thames Horbour Boa/rd, the Turua Town Boa,rd, and the Hauraki Plains County Council. While the could not definitely say that- the Harbour Board would sanction the payment, he would undertake to find the •share himself if it did not agree’to his suggestion.

The suggestion was not favoured by either Mr Mules or Cr. Miller, and one by one the members of the meeting drifted away, no decision being reached.