ACCESS TO THE SEA

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22083, 4 May 1937, Page 13

ACCESS TO THE SEA

"' j a Williams says: "Out of the opinions voiced at, # L conference, the fqSbwing KT\ points have cmerge&.'tl) That "Statement made by tjrt; deputations the Chamber <>! Commerce to V# al W ies > viz -» that the stiOX tty>construction of a tunnel Teould t>e had for the asking is "iLt' foundation. (2) That the J'Sment will not do the work un- & V Iter thorough investigation, it to be economic. (3) That ncldering the justification for a tSnd to Lyttelton, the corollary •SodfiUing the wharves for motor * Sort will be taken into account, "2Se inferences are drawn from the -.rfcs of the chairman of the conSee the Chief Engineer of Public fete who was, no doubt, expressing Ithan his private opinions. So ffw judgments are now freed £ tte hampering bogy that 'we aSSd be mad not to acce Pt tnis free S £500,000,' which has clouded Lews of those called upon to decide Question; and the matter is again s#nfor intelligent discussion. A time «soon come when such discussion « become necessary, but in the Knw&ile I think we can safely 2 foe matter in the hands of the. Kment, which. evidently does not S to do anything without proper Henry T. J. Thacker says: "I have fia challenge to Mr Hamilton, Sjent of the Chamber of ComET to a debate at which, in up to (mlßUtes I will move, "That Port bristeiwrch Jn the estuary is the only a* to give Canterbury and the South M direct access to the sea and to eWorld.' After his reply the audiBM Will vote." Ai Peverill recalls the report of a imittfie of two engineers; ope reStttive of local bodies within the jUjitoP Harbour district, three repreaMves of business and agricultural mhU and one public accountant, m was set up at a public meeting on mt 2, «33: "On February 27, iy34." aline correspondent, "they reported jrftiajr had investigated the whole ggjon from every point of view as jUjtor work, and here is their report ■lilensed. In their opinions the fresh ((OKI which might influence the practtbility of one or the other of these rajects are: First, a sufficient in[ss in the volume of imports and mrb of Canterbury and the district wild &y the port to carry the extra igjltl costs and sinking funds incurred i tarrying out of either project by Hiding them over this large volume «pds, so that the unit charges on Mf imported and exported would not increased. Paragraphs 2 and 3 deal ith costs of labour, etc., which I 111 not repeat. Then we come tc »jr definite and decided report. 'We effittoatwe have been unable to ij Is either the Port Christchurch r thr tunnel road scheme a work teh would be Justified on any of bett new grounds. We have also ; ttt convinced that the task of obiniog' the considerable amount of i may necessary for preliminary sur- J gjfor either of these projects would i e Insuperable at the present time; j id until It is shown that a scheme i commercially sound and would not ncrene the charges on merchandise iid pfoduce. we cannot recommend lifter. We have inspected the varies sites and routes of proposed works rod ate convinced that neither job is m'faMe as a reiieMcheiiiej.'. T&ftt-wag; w finding after exhaustive inquiries ad experts' opinions- -and the prewMayor was the! representative of wl bodies. I. cannot «tee any reason t present for those experts' opinions iit cast aside when they were very letoitein their findings." Hiram Hunter is tfved by two ports at present, Lytflwn and Timaru. The acreage of wain the province is fixed.- The pro-w-flvity of the land can be increased materially by closer settlement, irriitlon works, etc., but not to the extra to warrant borrowing the huge jount of money required to reconduct the whole of the accommodation I Wttelton. • Our. exports are from leiana. Take meat: there are a num*Ox firms with well-equipped works t Islington, Belfast, and Kaiapoi for wdjingmeat. They are-not likely to WVB to Lyttelton. and they have railay tiding* and all the equipment for porting the meat from the factor>to the ship's side and insulated Wioas provided for this purpose. Are w companies likely to scrap all as and purchase a fleet of insulated MoMorries to cart the stuff through .tunnel road? Take butter, cheese. £°», eggs, etc. Are the dairy com;JJtts prepared to transfer their work *« rail to road? Then what about m at Lyttelton to receive the cargo «« out of the ship's hold to be ™JM. and,classed, before delivery. ?> «nyone interested take a walk £™j° Carlyle street. Sydenham, and rifiS? & e area o* sheds there,. and Sf», joe Work of receipt of our imw»i Jiwpeotion by customs officers. w««£ ve »y•■to clients. This work FMt. begone *rom the ship's side. I,"E* wofls &to be done at Lyttelof floor snace must be for erection of sheds." "T.G. Hamli»»fima^lc?!tave caused me to have e£L On JWB, matter. He says that pause Dr. Guthrie (whose province ? ft 7«ine) favours.a tunnel road, it 'not necessarily the correct solutloa to? 1 - I say. favouring a te»*f°? A ls «oo d medicine, and if toiS £ le ot Christchurch- take the 2L d °se it would knock all the S?8 ta ? nonsense out ot their KoawS 1 * inverting the estuary taw - j A f ew years ago we were I lh* at the' mouth «» waimakariri, where time and S and concrete blocks have been »dSJ the river—a lesson wilkhappen if we MnwiCo w fool with the estuary."

l«6?!u S. uo !' suggests a referendum KSLJj ? e bor ne by the local bodies NiSS Pi, Proportion to the adult of each electoral disi^LL 1 ?,- Proportion to, the capital nf&w dc 3j b ? n3 ugh. county, or city siflMtf«? a: Pnnt a ballot paper conihmh.? ree Proposals, (1) to construct «fILv?Ll oad between ChriStchurch 1 .ft« a ton; (2 > t0 construct a port -to iC j Heathcote estuary; • and Dg („ ~F.,t or those who' see no virtotlßn? lthe ?' a tunnel road, or a <»C al „ eestua ry—(3) to allow thingF topX" as vthev are," says the corwho suggests a postal ballot Hwai iJ 0n amon S all men on the *%!(£ . 'Parliamentary) in each *«> and city in Canter**&SX ls6d - in the Lyttelton Harvard rating area.

"fc tt« - J a y s: " Dr - Guthrie has Ins+aZ P°int that in a referendum lay b~ !5j ar e uninformed and others Wen, but he gave nc SU" 8l S w ?> support of his iledbv ♦!, lne lates t example is sup-'iJelto>t-*conference held last week > eoBMdS lu m selec ted public bodies '"sh-m,- the tunnel road project »lej &}""» made cJ ear that the dele?itial «„& en misinformed on an esthat the Government i ffit?v tH « entire cost of the tunSei 2h|j! e e *ates. though misftffiiiX Wch , u » at least as bad as lTaha«^ e , d ' voted just the same. * hff conference this oc- « r«JS«S hj heater is the, danger H,I.. l ««?6Uduto in an unselected

»Stei , s srß At *ne recent N it™! for **» tunnel road proW V*S. SUr P r lsin« to find six tL Aiw VoUr of the tunnel road WsJax^ c « of Labour and the Ma Labour Council against the p* question can be asked,'

S?ini n *l rUc ifi the delegates reprethe different unions to vote in affiEAv? 10 su?nel$ u ? nel road and who in*;H C r e l the ! delegates of the Trades o? d T labour Council and the Alliance $o^ bour , & v £ te ssainst it. As a Srwl r ? f the Wsgest union in Canl can ?* y that l hav e no reflection of the proposal being put before the.rank and file, and no delegate carried the opinion of the rank and file. Again, W e have tne old conservative method being brought into operation of 'How Si e JJetz et things done,* and the voting by the delegates of the Labour organisations shows clearly that a given few te™? en m J° tncnr opinion without consulting the rank and me."