AN EXPLANATION IS WANTED

NZ Truth, Issue 1263, 13 February 1930, Page 2

AN EXPLANATION IS WANTED

Local Bodies U[p In Arms Against Minister's Decision

OBJECTION TO ROAD CLASSIFICATION

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Cambridge Bepresontative.) V 1 When the Minister of Transport, the Hon. W. A. I | Veitch, recently dropped his bombshell among the looal I | bodies jnterested m and associated with the control and S | maintenance of the Mamaku Bush road, which links up | | the Rotorua and Matamata Counties, and which is on | | the main arterial road between Hamilton and Rotorua, | | it certainly did not fail to explode. |

MOREOVER, it has also not failed to bring about him a counterbombardment that may be decidedly unpleasant before the war concerning the alteration of the classification of this portion of the highway from two and a-half to four tons limit is ended. It is not necessary for residents m the northern province or the majority of motorists m the North Island to tax their memories to any great extent to remember the deplorable conditions associated with the Mamaku Bush road. ' A year or two ago it was the nightmare of all users of this route from east to west of the island. The original controlling authority, the Matamata County Council, did its best to keep the road reasonably passable, but with the. amount then available for maintenance, the road passing through mostly native property, it was impossible to make anything like a decent highway. With the coming of the Highways Board, the road was taken over, and the board's finances, wisely used by the County Council, enabled a great improvement to be effected. To-day the Mamaku has lost its terrors to users of the road, but such are the peculiar conditions associated with this paTt of the route that every care and . attention has to be given especially io the portion through the bush area. In its wisdom the Matamata County Council limited the traffic to two and a-half tons, or fifth class. THE TELEGRAM The members of the Matamata County Council got a shock on receiving a telegram from the Minister of Transport, stating that the classification of the road had been raised. It was the fix-st notification the local body had received on the matter. The telegram simply read: "I have approved the classification of the Mamaku Bush road as fourth class for pneu-matic-tyred vehicles, and fifth class for solid tyres. The classification will be viewed after Easter. AVarrant will be forwarded to you at an early date." On receipt of this surprising notification, the clerk to tho Matamata County Council, Mr. C. f 7 . E. Barton, wired asking when the new classification came into force, and the Minister answered that it applied immediately. Early m December the county council received a wire from the Minister of Transport, stating that he would be m Putaruru on a certain date, and asking the council to communicate with Mr. Clinkard, the Government member for Rotorua. No word was received from the member for the district, and so the county office immediately got m touch with Mr. Clinkard to find out the nature of the Ministerial visit. The County Clerk states that Mr. Clinkard advised that the busines.3 at Putaruru had nothing to do with the county, and he further volunteered that it had nothing to do with the Mamaku road. In view of the Avire from the Minister a representative of the county went to Putaruru, m which town the usual courtesies to the local body were not complied with, and found that someonts had arranged a deputation of motorists with the Minister of Transpoi't, and apparently without the knowledge of the member for the district, according to Mr. Clinkard's statement to the county clerk. When the Minister came to^Tirau, after having met the deputation,' he was told by a representative of the Main Highways Board from Auckland that ttie cost of putting the Mamaku Bush road into a condition to enable it to compete with the railways would be £ 60,000 for the fourteen miles m the Matamata County; also that 'its present condition and classification was suitable, for tourist road traffic.' It was only natural that when the matter came before the first . regular, meeting of the Matamata County Council that strong protests should be made against the Minister's surprising action. . The chairman (Mr. J. W. Anderson) said it was the strangest procedure he had ever known. On the day at Putaruru the Minister had said that he would have to give the matter 3erious consideration, yet on the same evening at Rotorua he had stated that he had solved the difficulty. It looked as though the Minister had made up his mind all of a' hurry. SERIOUS ASPECT The county engineer (Mr. M. B. Fitzgerald) said he had told the Minister that with the existing amount of maintenance they were "skating on thin ice." . Th.c most serious . aspect of the matter was the effect upon the county byroads With the heavier traffic passing over them, as a result of the raised classification of the Mamaku road. "So far as one could judge," said the engineer, "from what was said on the occasion of the Minister's visit to Tirau, the action had. been taken primarily to enable the Rotorua Bus Company to run regular sight-seeing trips between Rotorua and Arapuni." The action would have a far-reach-ing effect, for m addition, to the Rotorua buses running to Arapuni, heavier buses and lorries would immediately po on the road from Auckland and Hamilton to Rotorua, andy of course, they had to . pass through the county. Then again, the effect upon the Tailway would be serious for those concerned. Civ W. H. Allen stated at the meeting that the whole business savored of political pull. The Minister's attitude should be to conserve and study the co-ordination of rail and road, and he considered the Minister's action was flying m the face of all reasonableness. A telegram was received at the meeting from the Rotorua^ Bus Company, advising that as a result t of the altered classification it was placing buses with a four-ton limit on the road. . , .-. .. . A Rotorua view of the situation sees

m the Minister's action a very sensible declaration, and it describes /s absurd the opinion that the declaration will cause extra heavy traffic to pass over the by-roads of the Matamata County. It Is indeed hard to Understand the Minister's action. It is equally hard to ascertain who organised the deputation; and^just as difficult to reason why the local bodies interested were slighted. The matter vitally concerned the Rotorua County Council, the Matamata County Council, and m a lesser degree neighboring, local bodies. The first-named body received ho official intimation of the visit, while the Matamata County Council received a late message, giving no details, from the Minister's private secretary. As to the actual action taken m regard to the altered classification, the Minister moved In direct opposition to the counsel of experts and apparently blundered. It will be. indeed, Interesting to hear the Minister's explanation of his rather mysterious move.