Preparations To Receive Evacuees In South Taranaki

Taranaki Daily News, 24 August 1942, Page 5

Preparations To Receive Evacuees In South Taranaki

When a census of accommodation in South Taranaki is completed, full particulars will be available for the successful evacuaiton of New Plymouth civilians in an emergency. . At a meeting of South Taranaki E.P.S. evacuation and accommodation representatives at Hawera on Saturday it was deeided that particulars be secured by controllers. Reports will be kept at Hawera, which is the headquarters of the group for South Taranaki, and reports will also be given to the Taranaki co-ordinating officer, Mr. D. Mackay, New Plymouth. Information for the successful evacuation and accommodation of persons in all parts of Taranaki will therefore be available. New Plymouth was being divided into blocks of about 500 persons to be evacuated collectively, said * the chairman of the Hawera committee, Mr. J. Burns. He considered the organisation should be such that, when New Plymouth notified its intention of evacuating a block of 500 people, the South Taranaki committee could immediately state a block where those people could go. Uniformity of operation would be the only means of accomplishing this. A map of Taranaki would be prepared showing a block of people that would be evacuated, and where they could be received. An outline of the obtaining of details concerning accommodation in the Hawera county and borough was given by the secretary. of the committee, and controller of evacuation and accommodation at Hawera. Mr. L. O. Hooker. The scheme was worked on the basis of community interest, said Mr. Hooker, the borough and county being divided into areas. Summaries of the information gained were available for New Plymouth, and it was on these lines that the district should operate. The feeding of the evacuees was of great importance. The Rev. Mr. Holland, Manaia, said he had experienced cases where persons who filled in census papers stated they had arranged to accommodate special friends. Persons would have to be1 evacuated where the authorities considered it advisable, replied 'Mr. Hooker. It would only cause confusion if they attempted to specify where they wished to go, and persons who had arranged to receive certain friends should realise the probability of these persons not being able to arrive. Representatives were present from Waitotara, Waverley, Patea, Kaponga, Auroa and Manaia, and disappointment was expressed gt the meeting of the failure of representatives of the Eltham county and borough to attend.