“WE WANT ROADS”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 867, 10 January 1930, Page 8

“WE WANT ROADS”

MINISTER VISITS THE NORTH CAR BOGGED AT FORD Special, to THE SUN WHANGAREI, Thursday* “We want roads!” was displayed on a banner which greeted the Hon. EL A. Ransom, Minister of Public Works, near Matapouri. The slogan sums up the nature of the majority of the requests made to Mr. Ransom when he continued his northern tour today. The Minister and party left Whagarei this morning, and made an extesive tour, receiving deputations during the day. A few miles north of Tutukaka, the need of bridges at Matapouri Inlet to do away with the fords was well impressed on the Minister. One of the cars in the party became bogged, and two others had engine trouble in the water, and had to be pulled out.

At the spot where the banner asking for good roads was displayed, a deputation suggested that £IO,OOO should be raised by debentures for metalling, the debentures to be secured by the petrol tax and on rates from all lands north of Auckland. Mr. Ransom said that they were being paid for out of the petrol tax. He was not in full agreement with all the expenditure being made from that source, but it was impossible to give everybody metal roads at once. More roading had been done in the past 10 years possibly than during any previous period in the history of the Dominion.

A number of other deputations at various places where clay roads prevail asked for grants for metalling, and to one of them Mr. Ransom said he was becoming a little weary of the suggestion made regarding nearly every clay road he went over that the Government should take the full responsibility for improvement. He was prepared in special cases in this district to exceed the £ for £ subsidy. In this particular case, he would be pleased to consider definite proposals made through the riding member.