PORT OF WAITARA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 267, 21 April 1915, Page 8

PORT OF WAITARA.

TIIH LOAN PROPOSALS. SUPPORTED AT WAITARA. The people of Waitara consider tliat their port is not as good as it should be, and in order to improve it tlio Waitara Harbor Board proposes to borrow .-C 13,001), most of which it is proposed to expind in the? purchase of it dredge. The board is holding meetings at various centres in the district to explain the proposals, and last night a largo number ff ratepayers of Waitara assembled to hear the members of the Board. The chairman (Mr. .fames Hine) and other members of the Board spoke on similar lines to their speeches at earlier meetings, and the tone of the meeting was decidedly in favor of the loan. The meeting unanimously decided to support the proposals. The Jlayor (Mr. W. F. Jenkins), who presided, outlined the object of the meeting. This matter had not been got up hurriedly, for expert advice had been taken from several places. The dredge would cost some £7BOO, or probably more owing to the war, and he thought that by the employment ot a suitable dredge the difficulties of the harbor would be overcome.

The chairman of the Board (Mr. James Hine) then addressed the meeting, hi order that the difficulties which the Waitara Harbor Board had encountered during the past twenty years, might be understood, it was necessary to retrace the history of the Board, and this the speaker did at some length. In referring to the New Plymouth Harbor Board lie wished it to be perfectly understood that Waitara was not antagonistic lo the New Plymouth harbor, for it was realised that there was room for both the Noiv Plymouth Board and the Waitara Hoard. Mr. Hint went on lo refer lo the position which arose when th" Waitara district had to pay rates to the New Plymouth Harbor Board, and he traced the steps which were taken to alter this state of affairs. In 1907 the position at Waitara was critical, and the speaker told the meeting how a rating district was fixed for the Waitara Board. More recent events in the history of the Waitara Board were dealt with by Mr. Hine on similar lines to his remarks at meetings in other parts of the district last week.

Coining to the present proposals, Mr. Hino said that it was fully recognised tliat dredging was essential to all harbors, and there was no doubt that they were right in following the advice which they had received ajid going in for a dredge. Referring to finance, the speaker said that the Board had succeeded in saving £4500, and as they proposed to borrow £13,000 he felt confident that when they came to purchase a dredge and do other necessary work they would have somo £BOOO of tlieir own and the loan money of £13,000. The surplus for the past year was £ISOO, and as the working costs of the dredge were estimated at £I2OO they would have a saving every year of £3OO. In conclusion, Mr. Hino appealed to farmers to remember that the New Plymouth Harbor Board levied excess dues on cargo going to and coming from outside the New Plymouth Board's district, and if the port of Waitara could come into keener competition with New Plymouth this excess would not be charged. Mr. Hine felt that if all those who supported the proposals recorded their votes tlw issue would not be in doubt, and he hoped all the ratepayers would realise how necessary was their support.

FUTURE OF THE PORT. Mr. 11. E. Vaughan spoke 011 the value of the roadstead at Waitara., and he quoted figures showing the progress of (he port, which figures have already been made public. The public should realise how much they owed to the Waitara roadstead, which was one of the lest roadsteads in New Zealand. They owed tho present position of Waitara tc the roadstead and also the freezing works, which, with the recent additions, were one of the freezing works in New Zealand. The expansion of the trade of Waitara was due to the roadstead, and. as far as the produce trade was concerned, he mentioned that the exports for the present season would probably show an increase of 25 per cent, on those of last soason. Steamers would be able to work the port day and night if improvements were made, and the loading of steamers in the roadstead would be carried out more expeditiously. Mr. A. W. Ogle said the condition of the port cf Waitara—he would say the bad condition of the port—was well known now, and he thought everyone rnnliscd the necessity for improvement. The continual cry of the public was, ''Why don't the Board do something?" But he wished it to be known that the Board realised the necessity of doing something as much as anyone else. But at the time this agitation was going on the Board was in a bad financial posi-' tion, and all the Board could do was j to sit down and wait. The Board had waited, and presently the debt was wiped olf, and as soon aa the time was favorable the Board was quick to realise its duty and was now moving towards improving the. port. Waitara had the chance to do something now, and this epportunity must'be fully availed of, for other ports were active in carrying out improvements, and Waitara must not be left behind. It was obvious to everyone how necessary improvements were and how greatly the port would benefit. If an additional six to eight feet were provided on the bar it would mean that steamers could work the port night or day, and at any state of the tide. It was true, and everyone knew that the ordinary coastal steamers could not work Waitara, and owners would not send their steamers here. At present much cargo was coming to New Plymouth because Waitara could not take the ordinary coastal steamers. The time had arrived when Waitara should seize this opportunity and make the best of it. New Plymouth was going ahead with its harbor —and all power to them, for we have nothing against New Plymouth—but it behoved Waitara to go ahead also, for there was room for competition between the ports. If Waitara 's port was improved it was possible that Waitara would benefit from tho new freezing works which were proposed, for if the conditions were favorable the freezing works might export through Waitara in preference to New Plymouth. "We have been going ahead with improvements in Waitara of late, and we have benefited by the improvements we have made," added Mr. Ogle, "and all the schemes we have had in Waitara have cost more than this harbor scheme. But none of them have done so much good to the town and district as these harbor improvements will."

NEW PLYMOUTH OB WAITARA? In answer to a question, Mr. Ogle said that steamers in Waitara roadstead paid port charges of only }d a ton on their net tonnage, while at New Plymouth the port charges amounted to about old a ton. Mr. Ogle said that it would cost about £25 a day for a steamer to use New Plymouth which could use the Waitara roadstead at the cost of about £ls a week.

Mr. A. Dugdale, who had asked this question, then went on to say that while he did not doubt that a few Home liners would be berthed at New Plymouth, the port would bo unreliable, for big steam-

or* could not b» berthed there in all weather*. Tliero wag tome weather in which a big steamer could not enter that port, and tills uncertainty was always to be against New jPlvmoulh. New Plymouth would not have big steamers berthed there at all weathers as long as the present harbor existed. They would not get big steamers until the New Plymouth harbor was rebuilt and that could not bo done under a cost of three-quarters of a million.— (Laughter.) On the motion of Mr. W. Proctor, seconded by Mr. 0. ,T. Maekio, the meeting unanimously recorded its support to the proposals.