The Daily News. MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1919. HINTERLAND TRANSPORT FACILITIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 October 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1919. HINTERLAND TRANSPORT FACILITIES.

At the meeting of the Clifton County Council on Friday it was stated that the Pio-Pio and Awakino districts had constituted themselves a railway area under the Light Bailways Act, and the necessary petition had been forwarded for the purpose of gazetting, the estimated cost of this light line being £2OOO per mile. It was pointed out by one of the councillors that, as a railway from the Waitara end of the district was just as essential as for the northern end, the Clifton County should endeavor to co-operate with the settlers of the northern end so as to have a proper railway right through, presumably from Waitara to Te Kuiti or some other convenient point of the Main Trunk line. We heartily sympathise with the settlers in the large district between Waitara an 4 the Main Trunk line in their efforts to obtain facilities of transport, for up to the present they have struggled on with courage and faith that the time would come when the advantages of civilisation as represented by metalled roads and a railway would be theirs. The question, however, arises as to whether they would be better served by good roads which would pass the settlers' doors or by a railway that would necessarily require good roads to make it of service to the people. The closer the matter is considered and all the circumstances taken into account, the ipore it is brought home that the p»ime need is good loads whereon motor conveyances could not only cater for the needs of the settlers but be a factor in the development of the great resources of the district—coal, lime, timber, and the products of the industries attaching to the land. That a through lipe connecting Waitara with the Main Trunk system must be constructed in the not distant future is obvious, but the immediate need is a good road and the bridging of the intersecting rivers. Even if the cost of a light railway would be less than that of a road adapted for motor traffic, it would be better for the settlers to have the road, for without it they would be only a little better off than they are at present, as in such a sparsely settled district, where large holdings prevail, it is clear that the railway stations would be far apart, so that goods carried 011 the railway would have to be hauled over long distances of road. There is, of course, an alluring aspect about the railway proposal, but it would seem from a practical viewpoint that a good road possesses far more advantages than a railway line and mud highways. The matter is one for very serious consideration, but to provide the railway first and the roads afterwards \ gatsu to b« Auttifti the «&rt More the.

horse. There is a consensus of opinion on the part of those who havp travelled outside the Dominion that good roads should be the first consideration, for they have to act as feeders to the railways. Taking advantage of the provisions of the Light Kailways Act may appear to be an easy way to secnre an early solution of the problem, but adopting the line of least resistance frequently entails disappointment and possibly disaster. It requires no argument to demonstrate that good roads confer a far greater boon on the settlers than bad roads and a railway that may burden the commuaity for many years to come.