FOXTON HARBOUR BOARD.

Shannon News, 26 March 1926, Page 3

FOXTON HARBOUR BOARD.

INCLUSION OF LEVIN- IN RATING AREA. The position of Levin in relation to the. Foxton Harbour Board's rating area, and die prospects of the port of Foxton was the subject of an interesting statement to the Levin Chamber of Commerce on Monday night. The President, Mr P. W. Goldsmith, introduced Mr M. Mortensen, Levin's, representative on the' Harbour Boarfxl, to the Chamber, in order that he might explain the probability, or otherwise, of this Borough being rated for harbour board purposes. The president, whilst introducing the subject, said he understood that some years ago a loan was raised to do certain work in connection with the , Foxton Harbour Board, the property in this district being pledged as security for that loan. A promise was given thait there would be no neces-sity-.to collect any money for the paymem of interest, but he believed the Harbour Board had power to levy rates,' for other improvements and sundry works, outside any interest it might be necessary to raise.-. As.there had been some considerable discussion on the matter, which had been only partly disclosed by the Press, the speaker .thought it very satisfactory that the Borough representative should give the Chamber the position as he saw it.

Mr Mortensen said that so far as he could judge. Levin would . get i very little benefit now from the Foxton Harbour. At one time they would see the lorries coming down from Foxton with all kinds of goods, almost every day. The shipping amounted at one time to as high as 88,000 tons per annum,' but now the total Foxton shipment had dwindled to about 10,000 0r12,000 tons! Then, a lot of wool and flax went through Foxton, but not so much went through now. The shipping had fallen off now and the reasons were fairly evident. One Avas the growth of motor transport, and another was the . loss of the "Queen of the South," which was very suitable for the trade and used to do about seven trips a fortnight, with good loads. The "Kennedy" was neither as large nor as suitable, and it was a regular thing .for her to get stuck in the mud. The flaxmills were in the habit of throwing out their waste tow, etc., which was a very hard thing to shift. The dredge | was practically sinking, and had nev- ! er been used, to his knowledge. As a result the revenue had gone down, so things were not -very blooming. Tills position led up to one of the Foxton members proposing the striking of a rate over the Board's area. The scheme was good enough in one way, and perhaps very necessary, and it was proposed to raise a rate of one-sixtieth of a penny in the pound. He was not sure of the extent of the Harbour Board's district, but to produce £I2OO there should be something like seventeen and a. quarter millions of capital value. Probably the district would include Palmerston North, Feilding, Foxton and Levin Boroughs, and the Kairanga, Manawatu, Oroua ad Pohangina Gounlites. Anyway, it would take that £17,000,000 to produce the £I2OO, and he felt sure it would take half the latter amount to collect it. Therefore, it was impracticable. Levin's portion would be £4O, but the speaker was doubtful if Levin would get that much 'benefit, as he did not think there was very much produce came this way. When the proposal first came up for consideration, it was discussed, hut there was a very strong feetling against it. The loan of £16,000 was borrowed to buy the sheds, take over the wharves, and buy the dredge, when the Board was formed and the district constituted by a comission. He was noit sure whether the Shannon Borough existed at this time, and it and the Horowhenua County were not included, which now seemed an injustice. The first board had, apparently,, made a promise to the public that rthey would not strike a rate, but, of course, that would not be .binding on any succeeding board. The other objection to it was that it would prove too costly to collect such a small amount. However, after hearing the discission, the mover withdrew the motion and it went no further, but opened the way to a bigger question—(the removal of the wharves to the heads. The Foxton people always thought -that if the wharves were shifted further down the river, the move would seriously affect the town of Foxton. A lot of people ©till thought that, but Mr Mortensen did not think that was likely to be the case, as some of the Foxton businessmen had businesses in both places, and opinion was changing. There was a big settlement at the Heads and it had always been considered the best place for the town was about a mile aJbove the bar, and then, of course, the railways would go down, which would mean a good thing. This would mean a large expenditure, some said £20,000, and others £40,000, which, maybe, would be lost, when iit had (been spent, as there was nothing but a mass of shifting sand along thait- river, and personally, he did not see how they could dredge the bar, unless they could make the river scour it out. Another difficulty was (the various drainage boards ' further up. From time to time there had been some talk of putting a cutting through, which would leave the Foxton wharves high and dry. Personally, he could not see how Levin could gain anything by that, as it wasn't very much use now and would, if anything, mean two or three miles further for the cartage of goods. The present railway was of no use whatever. If there'was a train service from Palmerston North to the Heads, all the intervening districts i would use Foxton as a sea-side resort

and there would be a tremendous population that could make good use of it. Mr Mortensen said he- could not see where it was of much use to Levin, as the business people of the latter town could get their goods by rail and motor lorry from Wellington, cheaper than from Foxton. Maybe, a little benzine and sugar came through Foxton, but not much. Wanganui was making improvements, and it had heen known that benzine came to Foxton from Wanganui, and a lot to Palmerston North. If the railway deviation agitated for between Levin and Marton came about, that would drive the Foxton port right out, because of the railway connection through to Wanganui, and there would he no call for a port at Foxton. Mr Magee asked if there would not be a saving in getting coal through from, the West Coasit, but Mr Mortensen considered not, as he,did.riot think there was any coal landed there, They could only get a one-hundred-; ton boat there now.

Mr Walkley said the worst feature, at the present time, was the irregularity of the shipping service, whilst Mr Keedwel] agreed that the whole as : pect had been altered by motor transport and good roads. Formerly railway freights were too high hut the position was changed now. Mr Goldsmith asked what the rate would be wanted for, to which Mr Mortensen replied the Board were always wanting a few things, such as, for instance, new sheds and a small wharf with them. When the Kennedy came in' it was found that she had three holds, whereas the wharf would accommodate only two, and it was found that if an extension had to be made to the wharf it would cost about £SOO, and there had been various things found necessary to he done. All rents derived from land at the heads was absorbed. The expenses were increasing (but the income was not.

Mr Goldsmith asked if the endowments were likely to bring in more. Mr Mortensen said there were about 500 sections cut up, and there was still more land to ibe let at about £1 to £4 apiece, some of them lying right on the sea front and drifting sand. The township was increasing, but it was very disappointing. The roads were not dedicated hut just tracks that had been made by the Harhour Board and allowed to go on without attention. They were not roads, but they should be dedicated and taken over bv the County Council. ; "Mr Goldsmith said that at the time the loan was raised a promise was also made that It would be purely formal and that the interest would be paid by the endowments and wharfages. 'He understood the Board had power to rate Levin for all sorts of things, to which Mr Mortensen replied that they had power to break that promise, * too. The Board had made a big mistake in buying the ; dredge, as it was of no use and they had to pump it out every week or so. Mr W. G. Clark asked if Mr > Mortensen wanted a lead from Levin. Mr T. F. Gibson said that as a boy he could remember when it was iuisual to see six or seven boats—each of 50, 70 or 80 tons, racing for places art, the wharf at Foxton. The "Queen of the South" brought in as much as several of those boats and ithat was why her Loss was felt so much. The President expressed the pleasure of the Chamlber in having Mr Mortensen explain the position. They had, he said, a .representative on the Board who would look after their interests, and would not allow them to he rated without giving them due warning. At his motion a vote of appreciation and thanks was extended Mr Mortensen for his courtesy in giving such a clear outline of the position. He wished it had been more on the bright side as faT as Foxton is concerned, but they could not alter it. Facts were facts.

Mr Mortensen said it would he nice for him as the representative of the Borough to know what people of Levin would like him to do. At the present moment if a big proposal was put up he would feel inclined to oppose it on Levin's behalf and if a big loan was proposed he would certainly ask for a new Commission to bring in the Horowhenua County and Shannon. The land right opposite the wharves was County land. Mr Goldsmith said the regrettable thing about the whole affair was 1 that Foxton was once a port, but was now no longer such, and there had been so miueh money spent on these small harbours in New Zealand that they would need to have a very good case indeed to support any expenditure on the Foxton port at any time. There, had been some talk of establishing a Government department, corresponding with the Local Government Board of the Old Country, which controlled all local authorities' expenditure. If this was set up they would have to present a strong case in spending money on small harbours. A good deal of money had been sunk in the sea, and on little rivers, that had proved ineffective. Foxton was a dangerous river of shifting sand. The idea of putting the wharf nearer the beach, and having railway communication, would make the proposition very much more worthy of consideration. Mr Mortensen said that was what worried him. The position seemed so good, and though he couldn't see any benefit accruing in Levin, he would he sorry to' have to oppose it on behalf of Levin. It was not going to hurt Foxton to be connected up with the heads.