WHITE'S BAY PROJECT

Marlborough Express, Volume 87, Issue 19, 23 January 1952, Page 4

WHITE'S BAY PROJECT

The Marlborough County Council 's renewed determination to- . get somewhere with the White 's Bay projeet will be heartily applauded. A challenging job lies ahead of it, but the. public will wish it luck, while every loeal body and organisation int'erested in the progress and wellbeing of the district should be ready to lend a hand. The opening up of White's Bay as a seaside resort would be

only the first step to the construction of an unsurpassed seenic route from Rarangi, ultimately linking up with the Queen Charlotte Drive via Picton. From that road could be gained access to the whole spread of the sheltered bays of beautiful, historic Port Underwood. The whole represcnts an asset of inestimable' value — eertairily too good a thing to lie neglected year after year, especially as there is * timberbearing bush to which the road would also give entry and

which could be picked over without destroying its seenic value. Where Is The Hold-up ? In eommenting last week on Marlborough 's need more aetively to develop its holiday and tourist potentialities, we did not inte'nd to imply specifically that the County Council had failed to do all it could to safegUard the public's rights before access is given to White's Bay. What we did suggest was that the local bodies were up against some offieial obstacle to the consummation of the scheme. The Council ' manifestly eoneurs in that view. It suspects that the hold-up is occurring somewhere along the line of communication to the appropriate Minister. That that is so is eonfirmed by the discovery made when the Hon. Mr Corbett visited Blenheim during the election eampsfign that he knew no thing at all about the projeet. To his credit, be it added, he refused to give any undertaking about it until he had studied the details. It would, however, be no surprise to find that he is still no better informed, and that the whole business has got no further than a departmental pigeonhole. Great Opportunity As we have al ready pointed out, Mr Corbett is peculiarly equipped to deal decisively with the matter throu gh his portfolios of Lands, Forests. Maori Afl'airs, the Maori Trust -.)ffiee and Scenery Preservation, on all of which the acquisition oi the Puketa native reserve impinges in one way or another. "This bloek of land, running from the shore to " the skyline, is vested in about 200 descendants of the original Maori owners. Nearly all live in the North Island. They rarely if ever see it, and the individual shares from the proceeds of the grazing lease mnst be microscopic. It is patently absurd and unjust that a property of so little importance to the absentee owners but of such great potential benefit to the people at large should stay "out of eirculation" indefinitely. There is a. grand opportunity here for the Government to seeure a seaside area, that could not be put to better use than to provide for the healthful . recreation of the people. With far-sighted developmont it can become an ideal resort, providing ample picnicking and camping space on the flats — ^purposes for which it should be absolutely reserved —and plenty of scope for leasehold building sites. on the hillsides, with the higher levels set aside; for the natural regeneration of the bush. Perhaps the Hon. Mr Bowden, one of our rare ministerial visitors, could be acqnainted with the possibilities of the scheme during his stay.