Land of Possibilities

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 123, 25 May 1923, Page 8

Land of Possibilities

DARGAVILLE'S CIVIC ACTIVITIES.

SPAN BRIDGE OVER WAIROA.

WORK COSTING £50,000.

(By Our Special Commissioner.)

The future prospects of Dargaville b have already been reviewed, and this " article will be devoted to the civic and : other activities of the town and district. v Tlie borough was constituted in 1908, c I he town qualifying for that dignity t ..iter a number of years administration '* under a town board. The population of the borough is between two and three 0 thousand, and is steadily increasing. The original name of the locality where I Dargaville is situated was Kaihu. This ' was changed to tlie present name in p deference to the founder of the town, the P late Mr. J. M. Dargaville, who settled in the district in 1871. Kaihu was transferred 17 miles north, and until re- t ccntly was the terminus of the railway line which has since been extended to „ Donnelly's Crossing. The former name v of Kaihu was Opanaki. d The business portion of Dargaville is c built on low-lying ground, originally v swampy, but the residential portion is a on higher ground overlooking the river. c The town is somewhat straggling in v appearance, and there are large areas ° nf land lying waste which are rather an * eyesore, but as business increases all tiiis land will be built upon. v XEW MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS. c Tlie town has the advantage of an ; energetic Mayor in the person of Mr. C R. K. Hornblow, and during the four i years he ' has been in office much has c been done in the way of improvements. 1 A solid monument to his administration i is the new municipal buildings which are c just about completed, and serve as a s fine advertisement to the borough. There * was considerable opposition to the*-* scheme, which finally passed council on 1 the casting vote of the Mayor. This block of buildings will be ÜBed for the combined pruposes of council chambers, i library and reading room, a loan of 1 £10,000 having been sanctioned for the '. work. This handsome building, which i occupies a central site on high land constitutes a landmark, and can be seen for i a considerable distance both up and down i the river. There ia a splendid municipal i water supply, obtained by gravitation from the Waiparitaniwha stream, near Kaihu. The total co3t of the scheme j was in the vicinity of £35,000. In 1913 - municipal gasworks were erected at a . cost of £11,000. Since then there has been an additional loan of £15,000 to . modernise the plant and bring it thoroughly up to date to meet the requirernenta of a rapidly expanding district, j The town lacks a modern sanitary ser- r vice. This is an essential if population - is to lie attracted to Dargaville, and no doubt the new council will see to it that this all-important work is put in hand at the earliest possible moment. There j should be no delay in carrying out a drainage scheme. The health of the . people demands the putting in hand of an essential service that no borough should be without. Much remains to be done in regard to street improvements. Some of the principal thoroughfares are J a reflection on the town. Loans have lieen turned down in the past for CBsen- ( tial public services, but the bußineßs men and residents generally should recog- ! nise that they cannot obtain "the city ideal" unless money is spent. The raising of loans certainly has the effect of ' increasing rates. On the other hand town improvements mean the attraction of more population, bo that iv the end the ■ ratepayers reap the benefit. The Wairoa River is a feeder to the town, and good passenger steamers are employed up and ' down the waterway. A railway line which operated for nearly half a century between Dargavile and Kaihu has recently been extended to Donnelly'B Crossihg, and acta as a business feeder to tbe town. The Hobson County Council, which controls the territory outside the borough, has been active in recent years, and. good roads have been constructed in all directions leading into Dargaville. A few years ago many of the roads were impassable in winter for wheeled traffic, but a regular motor car service is now maintained between AVhangarei and Dargaville all the year round, a distance of 40 miles, while other good roads have been constructed and put to full use by the settlers. ANTEDILUVIAN PERRY TO GO. The absence of a bridge to span the river in the vicinity of Dargaville has been one of the township's chief disadvantages. The settlers on- the eastern side of the waterway have had to put up with an antediluvian ferry service crossing the river from Mititai to Aratapu, some six miles from Dargaville, and this necessarily acted as a restriction on trade. Nobody would use the ferry unless they were forced to do so, and as a consequence much trade was lost to Dargaville. The eastern side of the river has been bounding ahead at a great rate for some years, and at last a decision was arrived at to bridge the river. One of the most ardent supporters of the movement was the present Mayor, and his return to office at the recent elections puts him in the position of being the central figure during his present term, both at the opening of the new municipal buildings, of which lie laid the foundation stone, and the opening of he new truftice bridge, which has been needed for so long. It is hard to estimate the value the new bridge will be to Dargaville. It opens a wide field for trade, and will bring into Dargaville a stream of traffic that hitherto was impossible. The bridge is being constructed with reinforced concrete piles, rolled steel joists and hardwood decking. The length will be 1600 feet and the general width 12 feet. There will be several crossing places 18 feet wide. A special feature wiU be a double-leaf opening span, providing a fairway for navigatlc-. _rf 60 feet clear. There will

_c 15 feet of head-room between high .vater spring tides and the underside of ( ;he bridge. It is not anticipated that c Ehe span will be often used to allow t vessels to pass, as most of the larger [ •raft come up the river no further than t the Dargaville wharf. The Government c is contributing _ for f up to £11000 and s £1 for £2 on the next £9000, the borough t paying _9-4fiths and the county 17-4dths ' of the balance. ' In order to facilitate traffic into < Dargaville across the new bridge a road 1 s bein_ constructed from Dargaville to 1 rokatoka. where it junctions with the 3resent main road from the ferry to Paparoa. : TOURIST ATTRACTION"?. j Dargaville has many attractions for ( the tourist and pleasure seeker. The j West Coast is a popular summer resort, ; the distance being about six miles. The _ number of local residents and visitors s who make the coast their rendezvous _ luring the summer months is increasing ; jnormously year by year. The road in ( wet weather has been anything but good < Etnd the county has been spending a considerable sum on its improvement. This work will be completed before next summer and then motor traffic will be ab'.e to use the road throughout the year. Tlie camping grounds at the coast are . under county supervision, and by-laws have been passed in regard to sanitation, etc. The beach is one of the best in New Zealand and is ideal for surf bathing. On this beach the succulent toheroa was in the past very plentiful, but canning operations and the operations of hawkers have had their effect and this edible shell ; fish ia now very scarce. A movement is on foot to have the toheroa protected, and recently Mr. Ayson, head of the Government's Fishery Department, paid a visit to Dargavilleto see for himself what the position really is. Another fine holiday resort is Picnic Island, 14 miles north of Dargaville by rail, l'his island, containing something like eleven acres, is in the centre of the Kaihu River. The property was acquired i_y the Borough Council. It is a very ; picturesque spot, covered with native ,bush and fern and an ideal place for a day's outing. Most of the schools hold their annual picnics on the island. KAURI PARK. For the visitor who would see the kauri in all its grandeur, there i_ Kauri Park. This magnificent reserve, contining some of the _iost perfect specimens of the kauri tree, is becoming known from end to end of the Dominion and many visitors are attracted to Dargaville for no other reason than to see the kauri tree in its natural forest state. The reserve is reached either by motor from Dargaville or by train to Whatoro, a distance of nineteen miles, and then to the reserve by road, three miles. The park can also 'be reached easily from tlie new terminus at Donnelly's Crossing. No visitor to the district should miss visiting Kauri Park. Mr James Trounson presented the Government .with the original reserve of 75 acres. Subsequently the Government bought an additional 950 acres from the original donor and his Excellency the Governor-General officially opened the Park on November 30, 1921. Some six or seven miles to the north of Kauri Park is the Waipoua State Forest, containing hundreds of millions of feet of timber. This is of the largest area of kauri forest now remaining in the Dominion. The sport-loving public is well catered for in Dargaville. There is a splendid bowling green, while tennis, rowing, launching, fishing and shooting may be indulged in to the heart's content. The racecourse is some two miles out of town and an annual meeting is held. Selwyn Park, containing' eleven acres, lies to tho north of the town and is used principally for athletic purposes. There is also a municipal swimming bath, much appreciated by residents and visitors. Dargaville a_ a business and residential town has much to recommend it. It would be difficult to find another town in New Zealand of the same size that can look forward with more confidence to the future.