THE FOXTON PORT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2114, 13 April 1920, Page 3

THE FOXTON PORT.

SPECIAL MEETING OF BOARD. A special meeting of the Foxton Harbour Board was held at Palmerston North yesterday afternoon. Present: Messrs J. Linklater (chairman), W. Bock, J, A. Nash, E. R. B. Holben, T. •/. (Tiipham, and 1). W. Malhcson. The following circular convening the meeting was sent to members: — “So little progress is being made’ in regal’d to the port, that it Ims been arranged to have a special meeting to consider the position. The Palmerston {'handier of Commerce ha> dealt with the matter of traffic and Palmerston merchants have given reasons for not patronising the port, and the agents of the ‘Kennedy,’ through their representative (it correctly reported in the Press of tire 30th March) have hinted at the withdrawal of the ve.-sel from the Foxton run. Those matters, and (ilhers, require to be dealt with immediately, otherwise the Board’s efforts for the past twelve years to secure the wharf find its revenues, and to benefit the whole district, will have been in vain. Enclosed is a clipping from the ‘Mauawatu Herald,’ giving (he impression of the meeting of the Palmerston Chamber of Commerce. Enclosed also are statements re loan account and

summary of rocipts and expenditure for the past six months. The loan account show-, that a tier a ret mid of about £2,000 to general ip-eomil, being the amount paid for dredge machinery, etc., and the Most ( oast S.S. Co.’s shed find wharf, and providing £3,000 tor goods shed, and £1,500 Cor pontoon and punts, and £SOO for contingencies, there will be about £3,500 from Loan for

dredging, anarl from the crodii to General account. Taking I lie* rcium! of £2,000 from loan to general account, the general amount will ho in credit saw £3,100. There is also a

£250 grant for liver improvements. From present pros]>ocls ol building' slu'd, ])onloon and punts, it will be anything' from nine to twelve months before (ho Hoard ean expect lo recover the trade. , Our a Iterant ive is to endeavour to hire the Canterbury dredge for a. few weeks. Inquiries are being made to ascertain it tins m possible, and the probable cost. The present arrangement for handling cargo might continue until the

Board can handle it :bemselvcs am! employ its own officers, it might be worth while to appoint some reliable agent to interview sawmillers re

timber for sheds, pontoons, dr,, and I hough the river and bar are no worse now than lor the past ten or twelve years, it is apparent I here is a feeling it is. Then' should he no possible reason why I rude loi produce should not he opened direct with Christchurch, and for coal with Westport or other ports. Ihe main considerations are provision for improving the bar and, river tor the better handling of goods, and the encouragement ot more Iraliie. Ihe Board cannot progress, and tue question of a progressive policy should be fully dealt with, 'flic question of sites lor distriouimg stores might again be taken up." Tlie Chairman said that at present matters were not in a very satisfactory position, and immediate steps were necessary to endeavour jo remedy same. lie read replies received by Ihe Palmerston Chamber of Commerce from business people, giving reasons why they do not u.-e

the Foxton port. Mr Nash said that he felt I hat lie was getting out or touch with the Board work, and the reason lor Hus was that regular meetings were, not held. He paid a tribute to the ex-cellent-work that had been done by the Board’s Executive, but in order to keep members more in touch with the work it w.as necessary that meetings should be held regularly. The position of the port was becoming serious, it having boon suggested (hat there was a possibility of the Kennedy being taken off the run. K this were done another boat would have to bo obtained. Foxton was the port for a very extensive district, and all the goods would come through Foxton if the shipping facilities were satisfactory. Mr Nash paid a tribute to the excellent 'Work in the interests of the Board done by Mr Bock, it was bis suggestion that an effort should lie made to hire the Lyttelton Board’s dredge for a time, and Air Nash said this was a stop in the right direction. If the Board wanted to make headway they must get to work without delay, and there was no reason why they should not be able to make the Foxton port worthy of the name of a port. He would suggest that the Board ask the Choirmnn and Air Bock to go to Christchurch and make definite arrangements for luring the dredge if at all possible. Mr Alatheson endorsed by Lush s remarks about the necessity oi holding regular meetings. In the past ' members had “loafed’’ on'Alr Bock. AVhat was required by the Board was a paid manager or controller, who would look after the Boards interests. It would pay the Board to employ a man lor this work. He ® moved future monthly meetings of the Board be held, this was seconded by Air Nash, and carried.

Mr Bock said that the letter from the Palmerston Chamber of Commerce with the replies from merchants was very valuable, and the Chamber was deserving of the best thanks of the Board for the interest they had evinced in the welfare jift he port. He hoped the Chamber would continue to assist the Board. Foxton was the front door of Palmerston North,’and it was in the interests of the people of Palmerston North and the whole district that

tlie port should ho improved. In re--I'erenee to the meetings of the Bonn!,. I lie by-laws provided for monthly meetings to be held in Foxlon, bill the meetings had been in Palmerston North for the convenienec of members. The 'executive had had a lot of work to do in the past, and if monthly meetings were held it would ease the work of the Executive considerably. One of the chief reasons of the want of support of trade to the port was the irregularity and uncertainty of the service. It was known that carriers at times had wailed for three or Jour hours on the wharf at 'Wellington for their turn to load on the boat for Foxton, and were finally iold that their good.-; could not be taken, as the ship was full, and the goods bad to be carried back lit the warehouses. If that kind (Tilling occurred very often one could ipiitc understand merchants preferring to .-end goods by rail. W’iial was ret|uired was more shipping to the port, and steps should be taken to bring this about. He ,was’ eonlidenl that the river was no worse now than some few years ago.’ In reference to dredging, .Mr Bock said that the machinery purchased from Patea was ail in Foxton, the engines had been overhauled, and it was all ready for installation as soon as a pontoon could be obtained. Everyone was satisfied that: the machinery purchased was a good bargain. A man in Wanganui bad a pontoon that he wished to sell that would probably bo suitable for the Board's purpose. It was built of Oregon pine, and bad cost £1250 to build. It was 100 big to use in the upper reaches of the Wanganui river, and the' ■ iwner was therefore prepared to -.ell it for ,C-10(). It was a question wliel her it would not pay I he; Board T it is suitable to purchase same and get a start with the dredgingrather than delay matters until a new pontoon could he built. He .had written to the Lyttelton Harbour Board, enquiring if their dredge could be hired, but so far a reply haul no! been received. Tin* Westport Board's dredge K’ubi Beddon was also available, but the cost of -ame would be very heavy. There were only almni three bars in the river (hat required dredging, which would then give a good depth of water right up to the wharf. Mr llowai'th, engineer to the Wanganui ’Harbour Board, bad slated that it would only lake almni twelve monlb,-.’ dredging to pul the Mauawatu River in good order, a.ml after that practically no dredging would be reiinired.

Asked if the pontoon under, oifer ul Wanganui could be utilised for ■lie dredge machinery, Mr -licked -aid that with very small aiteraii:ms this could be dime, li the pontoon was any good al all d inns! be eery cheap at £-i>)d.

It was decided, on Ihe motion ol Messrs Kasli and lloihen, that Mr ■licked be instructed to inspect the pontoon ami submit a report to the Kxeeulivc, who shall have power to

,\!r .licked said that iMiic ponioon was suitable, and was puivhas■d bv the Board, the dredging operations could be commenced inside ■ f li.ree month'-. The Chairman said that he had always been of the opinion that the

wharves should be near ihe Heads,Uni, ol course, if I hey could gel ,d, ■■litv of water up the river, then ihe prcseal site was alright, it tin-*' dredging of the river was not satisfactory, il would he a mistake to build (he new sheds at Fusion. 11 dm wharves were af Hie Fishermens; Point there would lie much less dredging necessary, and they would be able (o get a depth of water there for much larger vessels. A light railway could he constructed to connect with Foxton.

Air Bock said the policy of t lie Board had been to try and (dampen Hie cost of transit. Wharves at the Heads would not do this, as the cost of handling and railing would be much heavier. Then, again, even villi wharves at (he Fishermen's Point they would still have ihe bar to contend with. As an argument agaimt the proposal, he instanced W anganui. There they had shipping facilities at (‘asiloelifi', hut the. 'Wanganui Board were spending thousands and thousands of pounds in dredging the river up 1" the town wharf.

Air Nash said il resolved itself to I his: If the Board was going to consider Hie question of wharves near Ihe -Heads, then it. was not advisable to go on with Hie erection of new buildings at Foxton until the matter had been finally decided. The Ghairman said the Board Humid lirst concentrate on dredging. If this was found satisfactory they could Hum go on with their buildings at Foxton. If not satisfactory, then the question of wharves at the Heads could be considered. The shed accommodation at foxton at present was sufficient for their immediate needs. Air Alatheson said that a few vears ago there were a number of vessels trading; to Foxton. If the river was no worse now than it was then, then dredging would not be a very serious matter.

Mr Holhen said there were two crucial points to take into consideration. The first was the commencing of dredging, and the second, and to his mind the 'most important, was the question of reasonable handling, stoppage of pilfering, and the spoeding-np of deliveries.

Mr Matheson said that his experience was that it was not at Foxton that the pillaging took place.

Mr Holhen said he had been told in Wellington of instances where loaded lorries had waited on the wharf there for six hours for their turn to load, and then to he fold that the ship was full, and the goods had to be carted back to the ware-

Ironses. This did not alone apply to goods for Foxton, but also to other ports. s At Foxton the goods received 100 rough a handling, and something should lie done to remedy this. It appeared that the boat to Foxlon was being used mostly to carry benzine, as it paid belter, .and ordE narv cargo was left, the delay causing business firms to give instructions to consignors to forward bv rail.

Mr Nash said that if the Board put a man on to supervise the nn'ioading of cargo it would probably do away with a lot of the rough handling. He moved that the treasurer be authorised to employ a man to supervise the unloading of cargo at Foxton, ami that (he Palmerston Chamber of Commerce be notified accordingly. This was seconded by the Chairman and carried. Asked by the Chairman if- lie considered the dredge machinery purchased from Patea suitable for the purpose for which it was bought, Mr -licked said be was quite satisfied the machinery would work any liar.