ESTUARY PORT V. TUNNEL ROAD

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21710, 18 February 1936, Page 8

ESTUARY PORT V. TUNNEL ROAD

EFFORT TO SETTLE DISPUTE INDEPENDENT ARBITRATION suggested/ An attempt to settle the controversy ■ between committees advocating respectively the turnip ropd scheme and , the TPort CHHstchuroh' fpropOMus.|willj;' be made by the Christchurch Unemployment Committee./ Tlie committee ! has decided to approach ’ the Port Christchurch League and the Tunnel Road Committee with the suggestion that an independent arbitrator be appointed* by the Government, to recommend which of the schemes should be started. * A vital point in the proposal of the Unemployment Committee, put forward by Mr W. SJ. Leadley, is that whichever scheme is recommended for completion, the advocates of the other should be content to cease their advocacy until the successful .scheme , is completed- At the meeting of the committee yesterday Mr Leadley told 1 members that a referendum, as suggested by the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, would not settle the problem.. In the first place it would be expensive. Second, the referendum might disclose just -as great a divergence of opinion as had been shown in the committees. It seemed that as long as the present dispute continued the city would get neither scheme, although everyone seemed to agree that better access to the sea was necessary. Controversially, the committee as a committee could not take part in the dispute, but. it was interested vitally from the pbint of view of providing work near'the city for unemployed. The Government ougjrt to be asked to appoint an independent arbitrator to examine both proposals and recommend which , one ought to be proceeded with. And the committee ought to approach the advocates of the two schemes and ask . them if they would agree to the proposal. ; ! "A Red Herring” The committee seemed to be fairly l 1 unanimous about the idea, but there i. was some, controversy over Mr J. S. Barnett's, suggestion that to any motion ought to be added a further recommendation that the Government be , urged-to proceed with the completion of the South Island Main Trunk... 'Smilingly describing Mr Barnett as | an old politician, Mr Leadley claimed that he had used the tactics of an old ! politician and “drawn a nice, jurcy. . red herring across the track;” He suggested the recommendation about the completion of the line be made a separate resolution. The chairman of the committee, talking about Mr Leadley’s proposal, : reminded members that it was mot in the province of the committee to take sides as a committee, its function was . to look at proposed Works from the point qf view of the amount of em- . ! ployment they would offer. The Minister had said that if was proposed to-use the most modern machinery for • public works undertakings. The tun- : nel road project would employ comparatively few then on the actual tun- ; nel work, but a number on approaches - and roads. The estuary port would probably, be done mainly by suction dredges employing few men. But j the main trunk line would ' employ many men. even with the use of mod- 1 ern plant. , . "Mr -Leadley’s motion* .that the two J committees be approached, and asked : if they would agree to the appoint- . ment of an arbitrator, with the pro- j vision, that the advocates of the un- ] .successful scheme would dease to agitate for-it pntll the completion of the . first, -was carried as a separate motion. *