WHANGAMATA ROAD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5442, 1 July 1929, Page 2

WHANGAMATA ROAD.

SUBSIDY FOR METALLING. THE MINISTER’S REPLY. On the occasion of the visit of the Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Public Works, to Paeroa during March last the member for Thames, Mr A. M. Samuel, introduced a deputation from the Ohinemuri County Council which asked that a Government subsidy should be made available for the purpose of metalling a length of four miles of the Waihi-Whangamata road, commencing from the Waihi end. The Minister, who undertook to look into the matter, has now replied to Mr Samuel as follows :— “In this connection I have to advise that inquiries have now been made, and I find that the length in question extends from the Waihi borough boundary to the commencement of Bjerring’s deviation, which is a distance of approximately 4i miles. The estimated cost of metalling this section, inclusive of necessary widening, is in the vicinity of £2600. There is little doubt that this road will be of considerable importance to through traffic, and I am of the opinion that it should be metalled in the near future. In view, however, of the fact that the Government has provided the whole of the finance for its formation (some £18,000) and has undertaken to maintain it for three years, the local body assisting to the extent of only some £2B per annum in rates, I think the County Council should contribute £1 for £1 towards metalling, and on those terms I am prepared to consider a grant for inclusion in the current year’s Public Works Estimates.”