MARLBOROUGH BACKBLOCKS

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21656, 14 December 1935, Page 13

MARLBOROUGH BACKBLOCKS

A PERILOUS ROUTE DIFFICULTIES OF ACCESS Four or five years ago “Straggler" was a member of a shooting party that spent a few days in the backblocks ,of the Inner Clarence of Marlborough province. He gives the area the palm for difficulty of access. There is no defined road. A pack track goes in from Kekerangu, climbs a few thousand feet into the air, and then "does things.” There are patches ol easy going, but they are broken by narrow packways across treacherous faces, where the rider is wise to shut his eyes, let go the reins, and put his entire faith in his horse. Dizzy cliffs vary the proceedings, and placidity is further shattered by seeing occasionally the carcase of an animal that had missed its footing and rolled to the bottom. This country was not settled within the last two or three decades, when there was a land boom in progress, but one of the properties (the Coverham Station) was taken up in the very early days. The visitor cannot help but marvel on the reasons that prompted these old-time land seekers into these difficult regions when good country was available within reasonable access of the main thoroughfares. But tucked away at the loot of these forbidding faces are many excellently pastured flats, and even in those days the hopeful settler may have had visions that a railtvay would one day penetrate them. Reclaiming Waste Country At the last meeting of the Awatere County Council, Cr. A. J, Murray, the owner of Coverham Station, and the lessee of the Bluff: (further inland), brought up the question of the maintenance of the track. He said it would make the councillors’ hair stand on end to go over the track. In one place alone it' was absolutely impassable, and it was necessary to scale a height of 3000 feet to get by. He raised the question of the maintenance with the •idea of bringing the matter to some sort of finality. Last year the council made a grant of £l5O towards putting the track in order, but the bulk of the money spent on it had been Government funds and private money which he had found in addition to rates. Since 1920 the properties had paid well over £IOOO in rates and had received not a penny in return except for last year’s grant. On account of his Interest in the places he was diffident about bringing the matter before the council at all, and he only did so with the object of having the position clarified once and for all. His own idea was that, as the properties paid rates, they should have something spent on their access. In going into the Clarence he claimed that he was rescuing from the wilderness land that no one else was game to tackle. It had been abandoned to its fate owing to the difficulty of working it without decent access. People who were prepared to ta®fcithe risk and do the work in such circumstances deserved consideration. Most of the members considered that the work, being of-Uhatiopal benefit, was a matter for the Lands Department. One member said that councillors could not realise what it was like bringing out wool from places like the Bluff and Coverham, but his proposal that £SO per annum be spent on upkeep was negatived. Thanking the council for the time it had devoted to consideration of the matter, Cr. Murray said he had spent a very considerable amount on developing what was really an asset to the country. Good progress had been made in the rehabilitation of the properties, but there was still much to do, and it was too much to expect him to go on paying for access to save Government leasehold, any way. Remarking that it cost £2O a ton to pack stores and supplies into the Bluff homestead, he said that parts of the track were absolutely impassable, and it was a perilous ride for anyone. He often trembled to think what a fearful business it would be packing an injured man out to the main road over such country. Much public money had been spent on the track already, and it was someone’s duty to see that it was not wasted, and that the places were kept in production. Now that the council had declined all responsibility his only course was to approach the’ Lands Department. The chairman said the Lands Department was most certainly liable because provision should have been made for the payment of fourths on such properties. When “Straggler” was on the property he was told that the sheep were brought out to one of the coastal stations for shearing, as it was impossible to cart the wool out.