METALLING MAIN ROADS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1922, Page 4

METALLING MAIN ROADS.

At the last meeting of the Wliangamomona County Council, the matter of metalling and improving the Tangarakau Gorge road was discussed. Some members were against proceeding with ■the work, which they contended would be for the benefit of tourists, while the bye-roads giving access to the farmers’ sections remained unmetalled. These members did not quite appreciate the point at issue, and perhaps it is not surprising when one considers the disabilities under which, they have been laboring ever since they took up their holdings. Undoubtedly they are entitled to every consideration, and it is entirely discreditable to past Governments that they have for so long been left in the lurch in the matter of road access. The fact is, however, that the Government has invested about two millions in the Stratford-Okahukura line, and now has decided to stop construction at this end for the time being. To obtain revenue from the line already constructed it is necessary to bridge the gap by metalling the; gorge road, not a very big undertaking. Obviously this is not a local, not even a provincial matter, (but a national one. It is the only businesslike course to follow. It is incorrect to say the road would be essentially a tourist route. It would be that, but only incidentally. It would become a main highway, as well as serving the settlers in the valleys near the gorge and in the Ohura district, who would thus be able to more frequently visit the districts this side of the gorge and transact business. •‘We want buyers of cattle and stock agents, not tourists,” said one councillor at the meeting in question. Good communications would bring them from both sides. It is probably because of the absence of them at present that the stock buyers do not visit the district. All who know the conditions of the baekblocks roads in Taranaki, especially in the winter time, must sympathise with the settlers, and appreciate their feelings on the roading question. But it is bad policy for them to oppose the construction or improvement of arterial roads. They are the first essential in the absence of a railway, so they must precede the side-roads. When they are completed, then attention can be given to the side-roads. 't is a striking commentary -on the administration of the powers that be, and were, that in the year 1922 it should be necessary to urge the Government to metal a main arterial road like that between Tahora and Ohura.