SOME OUTSIDE OPINIONS ON PORT ARGUMENT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 53, 19 October 1949, Page 5

SOME OUTSIDE OPINIONS ON PORT ARGUMENT

Interesting repercussions of Whakatane Borough Councillors’ allegations that the recent Rotorua conference was “fixed” to further Tauranga’s harbour claims have occurred at Rotorua.

Following publication of the Press Association’s report of the Borough Council meeting, Mr R. H. Martin, president of the RotoruaNgongotaha Branch of Federated Farmers wrote to the Rotorua Post claiming that the conference was under no obligation to hear Whakatane’s case. He said it was not on the agenda and it was entirely due to the courtesy of the meeting that its representatives were heard at all. They took one hour and 20 minutes of the valuable time of the meeting and had a very fair hearing he declared. This is hard to reconcile with delegates’ story that they were allowed only 15 minutes in which to state their case. “I think Whakatane would be well advised to drop the matter,” Mr Martin continues. “It did not

receive any support of consequence its own area. There is no -jTguarantee that the cost will be limited to £1,000,000, These harbour schemes usually cost considerably more than estimated and the history of artificial ports in N.Z. is not a very happy one. The scheme is definitely a gamble. Had it been practical, Government engineers would no doubt have considered it, and probably they have done so. “The claim that it would save freight applies only to local goods, as the Rotorua, Thames Valley, Matamata, Taupo and Tokoroa areas would have to pay considerably more.”

Absurd Assumption Of course, we all know that Mr Martin’s assumption that Government engineers had considered the Whakatane plan is quite absurd, because the whole object of its introduction to the conference was to seek such consideration. Such loose suggestions must tend to cast doubts on the strength of the rest of his arguments. A Different Line Quite a different line is taken by another correspondent to the Post, Mr H. Geddes. He says: “It would be interesting to know how much kudos accrues to the Rotorua-Ngongotaha branch of Federated Farmers, for its effort in calling—or perhaps more correctly selecting—the conference district delegates to the gathering held last week, a view of the undignified recriminatory exchanges that follow in its wake. The Mayor of Rotorua, in bidding the visitors welcome, referred to “this large representative gathering” when actually he would have been more correct, had he termed it a gathering of workmen from Babel. There were among those invited sponsors of projects that have become, as a result of the meeting, uncompromisingly antagonistic. . “According to the president of

the Rotorua-Ngongotaha branch of Federated Farmers, it was only by rcourtesy that the Whakatane representatives were heard at all.

“Were they expected to rub-* ber-stamp approval of a scheme that is admittedly a fight to a finish rival of , Whakatane’s development?

“The promoters of the meeting were successful in securing the Dominion president to preside. However, he took time to indicate that he had asked some pertinent questions before accepting the invitation, and it is more than probable that had he realised the full implications, ho,w more apparent, the procedure would have been different.

“In view of the emphasis that he put on the importance of increased production, might we not look to the local branches to put their weight into something practicable rather than encouraging local Bickerings ?”