THE OPUNAKE RAILWAY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 19, 20 May 1912, Page 5

THE OPUNAKE RAILWAY.

SITTINGS OK THE COMMISSION The following cummarios of proceedings at recent fittings of the Opunak< Railway Commission have been supplied to the Press:— Opunako. Mr Willie:- C. Dudley, chairman of the Egmont County Council and oi liic Opunake Railway League, advocated the adoption of ih.a old reserved route to Eltnam. The county was finding it impossible to maintain iii; roads with a rate of :','•! in the £. The junction at Eltham would be equally suitable for sending produce for export either to Patea or New Plymouth. Mr 0. W. Itogers, clerk of the Egmont County Council, submitted a statement of the produce of dairy factories in the district from Warea to Awatuna, and gave some particulars as to the carrying capacity of the land within Egmont county. Mr i). Marklia.ni, secretary of the

Oaonui and Opunake dairy companies, gave information regarding imports of merchandise, fodder, and manures, most of which was imported via New Plymouth. Mr .lames Young, farmer, Oaonui, representing the Parikaha Road Board. described the possibilities of the land about Oaonui, between the Main road and the Forest Reserve. A line of

railway to New Plymouth located between the road and the radius line would give the best outlet for their produce. Mr dames Conaglen, farmer, of Pihania, was in favour of the line being located on the railway reserve to Eltham as originally laid out many years ago. With a railway the quantity oi' produce sent out from the district would largely iiiei-ea.se. Mr J. C. O'Rorke, farmer, Oaonui, supported the old surveyed route to Eltham, and a direct line from Opunake to New Plymouth, above the main road. Mr R. Lambie, farmer, Pihama, was in favour of constructing a line along the old railway reserve. He described the difficulties and expense of carrying the continuous heavy traffic from the district over the roads. Rua Moetahuua favoured the old Eltham route. Mr E. Maxwell, member of the Egmont County Council and of the New Plymouth Harbour Board, advocated direct communication by railway or tramway west of the mountain. Now that the district was producing principally cheese, New Plymouth would be the most suitable shipping port for dairy produce, when improvements now in progress wevo completed. Mr James Burgess, dairy farmer, of, Warea, expressed himself in favour of a line iron! Opunake to New Plymouth direct. Other witnesses were Messrs C. A. Trotter, F. J. Davey, C. H. Hurst, A. H. Moore, W. W. Baker (representing Awataxma Dairy Co.), and R. G. Surrey, secretary of the same company. At Kapunl. The Commission met at Kapuni at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 16. Mr Duncan M. Scott, dairy farmer, and director of the Joll Dairy Company, advocated the adoption of the southern route joining the .main line at To Roti, which would be a suitable junction for inward and outward traffic from either New Plymouth or Patea ports. Mr T. G. Shaw, storekeeper, Kapuni, urged that the branch line should be located on what is known as the Te Roti route, where it would he within four or five miles of the Kaupokonui and Kaponga factories south and north of the line. Mr James F. Stevenson, settler, spoke regarding the increasing difficulty and expense of maintaining the roads. He considered that a line located south of the Sheet road with the junction at Te Roti would be the best. At Auroa. Mr H. W. Mudford, chairman of the Auroa Railway League, urged the location of the proposed branch railway close to the Sheet road, with the junction in the neighbourhood of Te Roti station. Mr H. Buxton, secretary, read » statement. Mr W. J. Bradford advocated the Te Roti route. Mr John Ridge, storekeeper, also supported the adoption of the already surveyed route to Te Roti, and gave information regarding the inward traffic, goods, and merchandise. At Kaponga on Saturday. Mr John T. Quinn, chairman of the Eltham County Council, reviewed the steps taken to lay a tramway from Eltham to Kaponga, and put in a statement of expenditure by the County on reforming and maintenance of the Elthaiw-Opunake road and the eouniy':-' share of maintenance of the Sheet Read, five miles. He favoured the adoption of the surveyed route from Eltham to Opunake. In future smaller holdings would lead to a great volume of heavy traffic. Mr F. Basham, Eltham County engineer, gave information regarding the cost of maintaining main roads and by-roads in the Eltham County. He thought the solution of the transport problem was to construct tramways from Awatuna to Eltham and from Opunake to Hawera. He was of opinion that a railwav through the district would not be commercially successful. Mr T. R. Anderson, dairy farmer, Mahoe, read a statement in favour of the adoption of flic Stratford route, with a branch line down the Manaia Road. New Plymouth would ultimately be the shipping port for the district. Mr S. A. Mann, dairy farmer, was of the opinion that the proposed line should go by the Stratford mad. hitimalely the imports to the district

I wmd'! be heavier by weight than the ! exports. Mr Win. A. O'Neill, farmer, of llivcrlca, advocated the adoption of the reserved route, but if any deviation were made it should be to the north. Mr A. Void I.lire, dairy farmer, of Riverloa, favoured the route along the original reserve, any deviation to go to the north. The freight inwards would probably lie as much in weight as the outward produce. Mr A. N. Tail, director of the Kapenga dairy factory, advocated theh Stratford rout". Before long fully 10,0(10 tons of manure per annum would be required for the district, and it would be best distributed from the railway located along the railway reserve. A branch line to Manaia would lie necessary. Mr Alfred G. Guy, chairman of the Town Heard, put in a statement showing the progress and projected developments in Kaponga town. He supported the route with the junction at Stratford, and a branch line down to near Manaia. Mr Henry Graham, manager of the Dawson Falls accommodation house, gave evidence regarding the numbers of people visiting Dawson's Falls. The traffic was growing. A tramway could be run to the Opunake Road, four and a hah miles from the house. Mr William Swadling, chairman of the Kaponga Dairy Co., was strongly in favour of the Strafford route, so that produce might be shipped from New Plymouth. formation regarding the effect of using manure on land about Kaponga, Qpinicn at Eltham. At a meeting of the Eltham Chamber of Commerce on Friday night, says a correspondent of the Hawera Star, it was resolved that a deputation from the Chamber wait on the Railway League, with a view to urging the reserved route for the Opunake railway.

In speaking in support of the resolution, Mr Buckeridge said that they had a very strong case for the reserved route. Eltham had every claim to be considered. What was now

the Straiford-Ongaruc line was originally intended to be Eltham-Ongarue. Tiie early maps show the survey from Eltham to Toko, and anyone who knew the country must admit that the en-

gineers were right in their original plan, both as regards cost of construction and the configuration of the coun-

try. Besides, at the time the route's were mapped out, there were no vested interests to influence the position. He added that the reserved route was centrally situated to.serve the district with feeders, and besides. ;tl)e country was morally committed to the route. Mr Parrott said it would be neceWsary to have as strong a delegation as possible, as, some of the representatives from other bodies would be unable to attend. The Mayor had been urgently called away from town, Cr Stanners was ill, Mi' Marx would be unable to attend, and Mr Quinn would lie in Wellington. It was resolved that Messrs Buek-eridg-3 and Hill be delegates from the Chamber.