Bay of Plenty Times FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1910 ATTEMPT TO BLOCK PROGRESS

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5486, 18 March 1910, Page 2

Bay of Plenty Times FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1910 ATTEMPT TO BLOCK PROGRESS

Increase iv settlement and thn pro-" gress of a district always demand improved thoroughfares and the adoption uf up-to-date methods iv the main tenance of roads. Some few years ago the settlers of the To Puke Biding pledged their properties to provide the interest aud sinking fund on a specixl loan of £3000, which was devoted to metalling the worst portions of the main road between Te Puke and Tauranga. From what we are able to gauge of the position the farmers of Te Puke do not regret the course of action which they then adopted, as it is very evident that the sum of money spent has given more than a corresponding increase to the value of land between the Tauranga Harbour an the Waiari River. The ratepayers of Katikuti, Te Puna and Waimapu have followed the lead given by Te Puke and recently raised a combined loan over their ridings of £3000, the money to be spent in metalling and improving the main road. Two noticeable improvements in proximity to the town are those at Hakau and Judea. A little time back there was a whisper that a good proportion of this loan was to be spout on the llotorua-Tau-ranga road in metalling, but so far nothing appears to have been dene, although tue financial statement read at the last meeting of the < ounty Council showed a good b-ilauce to credit of the combined loan account As nearly everyone knows a considerable increase in settlement has taken place within the last yeur or two in the Or. -pi and Ngawaro districts, wl ile quite reetnlly the important sawmill* ing industry was startid there. At heavy cost the directors of the Tauruiiga yawmillingCompariy trai s^ort d their platit from H iwke s Bay ami art now turning out a fmt-clasi articlt . The advent of this Company at Oroji h is given a solid rise to the laud in the « hole neighbourhood, t,n I also pro vided employment for many mer. In some instances land has changed hands there at four times what waspiwiojs-ly paid for it. The Tauranga County Council may, therefore, look for an incruase in its revenue fr jm the Oropi holdings. Some time ago the Sa.v milling Company approached the local tody t nd made a request for the constiuctionof a by-road leading to the sawmill. The Company's representative suggested- the formati >n of a special rating district to cover tho cost of the road, but the local authority did not favour such a proposal, ana made the magnanimous offer to the Company of a remission in rates for some years if the Company would undertake the work. The Company evidently failed to see why it should assume the role of a lccil body and the road, we understand, is still unformed. The Company's hard row, however, was made a little more difficult during the current month. At the last meet ing of the County Council a paragraph in the engineer's report drew attention to the loads of timber now passing over the Tauranga -Kotorua road from the Oropi sawmill. Before rising the Council passed the following resolution :. " That the Oropi Sawmill proprietors be informed that unless they take out licenses for their timber waggons their use will be prohibited, and that after April 30 all heavy traffic must cease, as per by-law No. 21." For over a quarter of a century Oroji bos been lying dormant, and yet when a few energetic men come in and sink their capital there the Tauranga County CouQcil- as a progressive public body — say " that after April 30 all heavy traffic must cease " The by laws have evidently lifted the Tauranga County Council on to the high horse, with the result that the Sawmilling Company will have to get off the road, although it must not be forgotten that the County Council has blocked the access to the Pacific by closing the swing on the Hairini bridge, He it noted that | tbo Company asked many months ago for the swing to be re opened at Hairini, but the request was not complit d with. Instead of passing such a resolution as that above quoted it would have been more generous and public spirited for the Connty Council to have endeavoured to put the road in good order and thus assist the foundation of a substantial industry instead of making an attempt to throttle it in its early stages. Surely some of that £3000 of the combined loan might be well s^ent iv metalling, say, Chadwick's and Grassick's Cuttings, the Cemetery Hill (Oropi), and a small bill between the Waiorohi Stream and Chadwick's Cutting. Some of the councillors must know that metal is obtainable along the course of the Waimapu river and in other places close handy. If there is not en ugh money available to metal all the places mentioned, theie is no obstacle to the Council putting some of the work in ban^. The traffi-j on tho road iv question now demands tn active metalling policy. We believe that the ratepayers would readily consent to another i ate if by so doing they can secure permanent improvements to their roc d. It may be said to the credit of Crs Orawf rd and McEwen that they did not try to throttle the flax industry in Te Puke when the waggons . Bsboiatcd with it were cutting up their cUy ro<-ds. Cr Crawford, ably supported by his riding colleague, fought jike a Trojan for the special rating

district of Te Puke, ami although he wrs vanquished inure than once persistency tiinmphed in the end, and by his foiesight aud cnrrgy the Te Puke ruiirt has b^en vat.t'y improved We Lelifcvo That tic Irst value which the iV.c; arrrs fv<r ret eivtd in ibat locality was t:je £3000 worth if metalling. U (fortunately thrre is nn one like Cr 'rawford to look after On*j.i's interests, cr several if the eutti gs on the Tuiiranga Kctoru i road would have been metalled out of the combined loan bef< re this, and .justice done to the rfitepajrrs of that; localitj. Widespread indignation prevails throughout tJB district at the treatment meted out by the Tauranga County Council towards the Tanranga Sawuiilling Company, and wo trust that in the inte rests of true pivgress Wiser counsels will prevail and that no time will be lost in put'ing in hand permanent metalling improvements on the road in question.