COAST ROAD SCENERY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22318, 4 February 1938, Page 14

COAST ROAD SCENERY

RESERVES CONTROL BOARD SUGGESTED AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION DISCUSSES PROPOSAL (THE PRESS Special Servlce.J GREYMOUTH, February 3. A proposal by the Lands Department to establish a board to control scenic reserves on the GreymouthWestport coast road was a subject of discussion at the monthly meeting of the Greymouth branch of the Canterbury Automobile Association last evening.

The department inquired whether me association was prepared to accept representation on such a board were ll formed, and if it would be prepared to support it financially. The Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr Wilkinson) said in his letter that the formation of such a board had been under consideration by the department. It was most dihicult, he scud, to maintain adequate supervision of these picturesque coastal reserves, as they were on the border of the district. Boards of control had been established elsewhere, and had been markedly successful in controlling campers, and those who often thoughtlessly damaged the too few remaining bush areas and beauty spots. He suggested a board comprised of representatives from the following:—Lands Department, Automobile Associations (Greymouth and Westport), Grey County Council, Buller Coun*y Council, and Government nominees.

"I consider that if a board were set up at Punakaiki the services of some well-known local resident could probable be obtained, who would carry out the duties of caretaker and collector on a percentage basis," concluded the commissioner. ' After a long discussion, it was decided to write to the commissioner referring him to the conference held in Wellington last May, when the whole question of scenery preservation and allied subjects was gone into. At this conference, members said, it was agreed that machinery be set in motion to deal with the matter by means of provincial councils being represented on a central body. In view of this the association decided to ask whether the suggested new scheme would be part of the national scheme discussed at the conference. Until a reply was received it was agreed that no further action should be taken in the meantime.