ACCESS TO THE SEA

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22271, 9 December 1937, Page 7

ACCESS TO THE SEA

TO TUB EDITOR OF THE VRESS. Sir, —As the Government is to be approached again by the advocates of a tunnel road, it is important that those who have not gone into this question very thoroughly should do so now. Lyttelton is a good port in the wrong place, whereas a Port Christchurch, while perhaps not quite so good, would nevertheless be in the right place; and the idea is that the latter could be made as good, given time. , This tunnel road is estimated to cost £500,000, and the Chamber of Commerce committee states that it is not now advocating an alteration of the whole port, and expects the Government to put the tunnel through as a Government work. If the people arc wise, they will oppose it, even if it costs them nothing. Lyttelton would still be in the wrong place, seeing that there is an alternative site only three or four miles from the city centre, with practically unlimited flat land ail round it. Tor half the cost of the tunnel road a coastal port could be established that would facilitate a mightier work to follow in due course. If the Government can hand out £500,000 to construct this tunnel road, it can the more easily find half that sum for the establishment of a coastal Port Christchurch, which the writer firmly believes the public would rather see than this proposed retention in perpetuity of a port in the secondbest position. It is quite obvious what the ulterior object of a tunnel road is, and that is direct contact with the ship. This would be agitated for, morning, noon, and night, as soon as the tunnel was finished; and that means an expense one can only remotely guess at. . The people will be well advised to weigh this question well. We are still a small community, and the idea of a coastal or minor Port Christchurch at a moderate cost, pending improvements in the future, in which we can learn something and acquire a maritime outlook, is surely more cautious than spending £500,000 to get to Lyttelton, with the certainty of a total expense ultimately as great as the construction of a major Port Christchurch. —Yours, etc., t,n c . ECONOMY. December 8, 1937.