TAUPO'S TOURIST CLAIMS

Taupo Times, Volume III, Issue 149, 3 December 1954, Page 4

TAUPO'S TOURIST CLAIMS

, FOR many years there has been a strong feeling among the people oi 1 Taupo, both town and district, that its attractions as a holiday and tourist resort, to which Governments have from time to time paid lip service, were such that developmental work should long since have been undertaken or assisted by the Government. The matter has often been * phrased in statements to the effect that Taupo should be assisted in the same way that Rotorua had been. It, has often been said that, of course, the GovQrnment, by which has generally meant the Tourist Department, pushed the claims of Rotorua to the detriment of those of Taupo because they already had invested a great deal of j money there. Today, when Taupo has entered upon a period of growth and progress, there: is no doubt that on its merits it should have from the Government of the country just such consideration, with regard to the development of tourist amenities, as Rotorua has had in the past. The fact that many of the tourist attractions of Rotorua were actually owned by the Crown does not affect the merits of the case. The argument simply is that as a national holiday resort some measure of national expenditure should be planned for Taupo's development. Just what could and should be done in this direction> is a matter that admittedly requires study. A start was made recently when the

Borough Council submitted a tentative scheme -of Lakefront development to the Minister in Charge of Tourist Resorts. No decision has yet been given on this, and it would be fair tq say that, with the recent election campaign then in prospect, there has as yet hardly been time for the matter to be sufficiently studied. The important point is that the whole matter is one that should not be allowed to rest. There will be considerable local interest in the recently announced appointment of Mr E. H. Halstead, M.P., as the new Minister of Tourist Resorts, in view of his statements at Taupo during the recent election campaign that "the town needed1 some Government help," and his reference to certain local needs which, he said, could be fixed easily. There is no doubt that Mr Halstead's knowledge of the district is such that his statements as to its claims expressed his considered opinion. And it is encouraging that another new Cabinet Minister, Mr D. J. Eyre, as a regular visitor to Taupo and the owner of a residerice at Waitahanui, also has a background of personal knowledge of the district. When the Borough Council comes to place its views on Government aid for Taupo's development as a tourist resort before the Government, with the aid of the member for the district, Mr R. Boord, in the usual way, it will be justified in expecting more satisfactory results than have yet been achieved.