THE OPOTIKI NEWS Wednesday, July 26. 1939 A COASTAL HIGHWAY

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 212, 26 July 1939, Page 2

THE OPOTIKI NEWS Wednesday, July 26. 19 3 9 A COASTAL HIGHWAY

A report, of the meeting held in Wliakatane, which appears in to-day’s issue makes rather astounding reading in parts. Jtnibodied in the resolution to be .submitted to the authorities is a claim lor “adequate road conimunitation” , for the town and 1 district of Wliakatane. The suggestion that the Wliakatane borough and county is badly off as far as highway communication is concerned is so utterly ridiculous as to be unworthy of comment. Wliakatane borough is adequately served by highways as at .present the Tauranga, .Rotorua and Opotiki Jiigliways all converge' on tin* town of Wliakatane. Unless necessary, travellers do not need to go right into the business area of Wliakatane. but to those who do, the three highways lead them directly to the town. These highways are all receiving ;attention for permanent sealing work. An analysis of the agitation from Wliakatane for a, shorter highway between Opotiki a lull Whakatahe. as shown by the tiles of the Hay of Plenty Press, shows clearly that the idea of the highway was to try to force trade into Wliakatane borough. The suggested road via Wainui was hr icily discussed on one or two occasions by the Wliakatane County Council, but that body never at any time advocated such a road and the whole of the support .for the idea came from the borough of Wliakatane, the Chamber of Commerce there being the leader of the agitation, strongly supported by the Hav of Plenty .Press, which at that time had a very good reason lor a shorter road to Wliakatane. first of all the plan was to secure a road to on-

able Waimii settlors to shop in Whakatane ami discourage tlie.m from going to Opotiki. The business-people ot Whakatane made no secret of what they were after. .Like a rolling stem*, the agitators .thought of. trc.sli ideas as the months flew hy, one of the main ones being that the new road should he part of the “great East Coast Scenic Highway”, which should commence at. Whakatane and finish at Gisborne. Ouito a number of Cabinet -Ministers saw the beauties of the scenery in the vicinity of Oliope and were then led hack to' Whakatane without seeing anything of the rest <>f the road. Alter being told of the dangerous Waimana Gorge route, the -Ministers were brought to Opotiki in the hours ol darkness, when they eonld not possibly get any idea of the present highway, except that in the dark it appeared to he narrow, long, and twisty. .Next someone discovered! that the distance to Auckland from Opotiki could ho shortened, provided of course people went to Tauranga through the Whakatane borough. That travellers could already save many miles by taking the road from Taneatua to Rotorua via the White Pine* .Hush was purposely overlooked. Another point that was overlooked was that with the realignment of the road between Whakatane and Cambridge via Rotorua a further saving in distance was made. Then the .Minister of Public Works condemned the Waimii route, stating he would not spend sixpence on it. Probablyi being told that it was only a “stone throw” across the month of the Ohiwa harbour, Mr. Semple promptly put forward the idea that a bridge should be built-across the mouth of the harbour. Mr. Semple did not see the harbour mouth and 1 had a report made cn this route. That it was not feasible was known by most people. The suggestion is now made that the road should he made along the arms of the Ohiwa harbour. 'I Ins appears to be rather contradictory, when Mr. Semple’s opinion is oonsideicd. A plan was published some time ago in the Auckland Star, accompanied by a lengthy article by “a retired public works engineer”. We have had it on good authority Iroui another engineer that the wiiter of the article has not licd 11 near the Ohiwa harbour for at least AO years. Various points in the- article were challenged later hy another writer andi the “retired engineer" apparently “took the count' , as he failed to come to light with a reply to substantiate his arguments., which had apparently been toin to shreds.

Seeing that the suggested road concerned Opotiki more than it clie.l \\ iuikatane. it is a rather remarkable tiling that Wha kata no never approached Opotiki local bodies. while with the Opotiki paper under the direct control of Whakatane, there could he no possible chance of opposition to the suggested road. Since the Opotiki Mews mu nine need publication, this journal has endeavoured to keep the public in-

formed of the position concerning the highway/ and at last the district ha ; s awakened to the fact that unless something is done immediately, the chances of having a'sealed highway in the next year or two are very remote. A few Opotiki residents are adopting tlm attitude that the present highway to Taneatua must be realigned and sealed, and then if the Government likes to provide;a road which will only be an added luxury, well, let them go ahead. It stands to reason that.the Government will not build two highways up to present-day standards. The Opotiki News still contends that the construction of the coastal highway would: he a shocking waste .of. public money, as the direct traffic between Opotiki. and Whakatane'—two small towns with populations of under 200(1- • is exceedingly light, while in ordinary times the through traffic from Gisborne to -Opotiki, Is scarcely 20 vehicles per day, as those living on the Waioeka Gorge highway can verify. Tourists do not necessarily wish to use the shortest road in their travels, and the present highway is one.of the best from a scenic point of view between Auckland and Opotiki, and travellers coming from Rotorua, if they wish, can also travel via the White Pine Hush road, where there is also very attractive country, at one time praised to the skies hy the Whakatane people,' hut now forgotten by Whakatane. It has been stated time and again, that in the event of a coastal highway being constructed, the bulk of the traffic will still continue to use the present highway! and this has never been contradicted. From a tourist point of view there is nothing against the existing highway and a lot to he said in support of it. The idea that a new highway is going to cut down mainten-

ance is a fallacy a.s two roads will cost more in upkeep than one road. The question of cost does not appear to worry Whakatane in the least, as it is suggested! that £3O, ()(]() more should bet spent in taking the road via Qhope instead of the Maoraetotara Gorge, with a nice new bridge thrown in near tiie Whakatane paper mills for good measure. From a military point ol view a coastal road is too vulnerable to sea attack. It lias been suggested that warships could not-, approach the New Zealand coast for fear of aerial attack and that only planes would attack the country. In the event of planes having the upper hand it can be stated that there would he no pianos as unless there are warships to escoi t them, planes would not be able to raid the country. The present highway would fill any military requirements, and would have the railway for support. "

Shorter loads are quite all right, provided they are justified. The distance between Opotiki and Gisborne could be shortened by almost Id miles by a. route up the Otara valley and coining out at Mutuhora. hut there is no demand for such a road, which has almost as much justification as a shorter road between YVhakatnno and Opotiki. There are plenty of other important works requiring attention in New Zealand, and a coastal road can very well he shelved until such time as traffic justifies such a huge expenditure. The idea that Whakatane is a sort of Cinderella, is ludicrous when it is considered it has a tlirce-wav highway connection, not forgetting an expenditure of something like CI.(TO.('(JO on the drainage of the WTiakatane plains, and for which the rest of the country is helping to foot the hill. The statement' by one Whakatane speaker that the suggested road would reduce the distance between Whakatane aim Opotiki hv 20 miles is ridiculous. The present highway, without any sayings in distance that can he made, is a little over 3S miles. From Opotiki to Kutarcre is approximately 11 miles, so that according to the Whakatane speaker’s reckoning, the road from Kutarcre to Whakatane would he only about seven miles in length. The distance to Whakatane by the suggested route would be approximately 2S mile’s—not 18. A section of the existing highway, from Whakatane to Taneatna. is now being realigned ready to.-’ sealing. From Taneatna to Opotiki it is possible to cut ofFabout two miles by realignment and deviations of the present highway. The distance between Gisborne and Auckland via the White Pine Bush road and Butorin would lie actually shorter than by the suggested highway, taking the lletorua route to Auckland. The Opotiki County Council is asking that the read between Taneatna and Opotiki lie sealed, thus- making a scaled highway over the whole road to Whakatane. It is to he liopecl that the public meeting to lie held in Opotiki on August oth. will lie well attended so that the district will' be in a position, to give the Government a true expression of what it wants in the way. of rail and road connection.