LEES VALLEY THE PROBLEMS OF AN ISOLATED COMMUNITY

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26491, 4 August 1951, Page 6

LEES VALLEY THE PROBLEMS OF AN ISOLATED COMMUNITY

(Specially Writfen for “The Prets.")

[By

GARRY BARKER]

It is hard to believe that such isolation as that suffered by the residents of Lees Valley could exist in 1951. In an age when improved transport methods have brought New Zealand within a few days travel of the other side of the world the journey of not more than 70 miles to the valley seems insignificant. But words cannot fully show the difficulty of the route ana mere figures loss their worth in describing the distance to the valley. There is no smooth, easily-graded road over which one may drive in the comfort of a modern motor-car to the scenic beauties of this lonely spot. Since the flooding in April the only road usable by wheeled traffic has been completely closed from the Middle Ashley bridge into the valley. Driving the first six miles and a half from the Ashley Gorge road to the bridge is a precarious business at the best of times; in winter, with anything up to four inches of icy snow on the road, it is a trial to the best of motorists. The road winds up and down along the hillsides, around, hairpin bends not more than six or seven feet wide, where the road is undercut and hanging 500 feet above the riverbed, until the Middle bridge is reached. There the car must be left and the next seven miles into the valley covered on foot. From the bridge the road is continually broken where it has slipped down the hillside or blocked where the hillside has fallen on to it. The worst of these slips is more than 40 feet across and, wnen a party of journalists recently visited the valley, it was frozen into a solid mass that would be impossible to remove until it thawed. Though accusations that neither the Ashley nor Oxford county councils did all they could to alleviate the position have been made, with the slips frozen as they were and the weather so cold any attempt to clear the road would be doomed to miserable failure. Loss to Settlers

Some thousands of pounds will probably be lost by the settlers because of their inability to get wool out since March. Most of the holdings carry about 2000 sheep and 150 cattle and even a drop of a few pence in wool prices would mean the loss of a sizeable sum of money. In normal times about 6500 sheep are sent each year to the Oxford Ewe Fair; some of them are taken out in trucks to Birch Hill and then to Oxford, but most are driven over the Blowhard track. This year, because of the damage, there nas been no chance of taking anything out of the valley by either route. Since the visit recent y made by the reporters of “The 1 Press” a thaw set in; most of the snow has gone and the road is very muddy. But before any effort, time and money are expended on repairing the old route the possibility of forming a permanent route through the Okuku pass should be very thoroughly investigated. Work has already started on laying down a temporary track through the pass so that access can be given to the valley as soon as possible. For some time there has been a move among some of thO settlers to form a permanent route through this area. At present there’ is a track which, although only suitable for a pack train or a lightly loaded tractordrawn trailer, could be formed into a good road. This route is not subject to damage from floods and slips, as is the route from the Ashley Gorge road. To take lime into the valley over ths old route costs about £2 a ton for cartage alone. The Okuku route would lead almost directly to a lime works and cartage would be more economical because strain on drivers and vehicles would be less. Another argument in favour of this route is that the old road passes through country which could not be settled; but a route through the Okuku would onen uo country where farming could be undertaken.

Lack of Unanimity Some understandable opposition to the scheme to form this new route has come from certain of the settlers. Those in the south end of the valley want to keep the old route because ft is nearer to them; those in the north want the new route for much the same reason. Examining the matter impartially, It seems that the new route would be more efficient and cheaper both to maintain and use. Bad Snbdlvision “This is one unfortunate examnle o* faulty subdivision in the South Island high country." said the Royal Commission set up to Inquire into the sheepfarming industry in its report published in March, 1849, commenting on Lees Valley. “The valley is an

almost entirely enclosed one tost of Oxford in Canterbury. The oni entrance is by a narrow eor~ through which the road must climb K winding route around steep fae P . Z give reach to the valley, ij opinion, there is no question that t£ valley was badly subdivided both t! respect to the size of holdings amt J 5 the balance of country r"*? originally subdivided into 14 holdin.. Many of these have failed and there has been some amalgamating and regrouping. ' ‘.‘We consider that before stability u reached further regrouping will k! necessary. Evidence presented to i. the valley contained requests attention to the road, but there waa. lack of unanimity among the settler. Some wanted a new road constructs over the saddle at the north pisT} the valley; others wanted the existinl road improved. In view of the la<£ of unanimity we make no recom mendation. “Before any great sums are on giving access,to the area we aS of the opinion that further conste e „ tion should be given by the LatX Department to the question S regrouping. ‘ “In tne meantime, however, acce«. tn ‘ the valley in emergency is proving for by a reasonable airstrip Unfor tunately, access to the airstrip u across a small creek, where a bridm requires repairs which could ha effected by the local w Emergency R antes In times of emergency there ars three ways out of the valley, none rrf them very good. The first, an aintrfo which is considered dangerous and& unlicensed, is in the Oxford end of tto val'.ay. A fresh in the Ashley river would prevent about half the intobi. tants getting to the airstrin white th. bridge is unserviceable. The other two routes depend on the condition of tho Ashley and Okuku rivers. If the Ashley was fordable a man could cross near Gillespie’s bridge, in the OxfoM end of the valley, walk about eevMt miles to the Middle Ashley bridge end from there travel by car or truck If the Okuku river was fordaMg the third route could be used. It woim involve a six miles and a halt wtikte the Brothers, from where a tnwa could be driven with difficulty over a bad road to Whiterock. A fresh fa the Ashley river would isolate fiMtl settlers in the southern end of tS valley from the alternative itejß None of these methods of egress eo2L be faced by a seriously ill param*, a child unless the landing and conditions were favourable. Thh'ffJr emphasis to the urgent need for eX means of better access to be provide!. A particularly bad feature of (St valley is in the boundary between tha. Ashley and Oxford counties. Frtfa the Ashley Gorge road to the Ashley bridge the road is in' Sj Oxford county; from the MidS? bridge until the floor of the Valley 4 1 . reached at Gillespie’s bridge it is n the Ashley county; from this bridgb to the top Ashley bridge the road ruM through the Oxford county and then back Into the Ashley county until the top of the valley is reached. This bi most inconvenient arrangement ran for settlers and county officers. SOB* years ago there was a move to aMf the boundary, but the idea imshelved in face of the bigger ism# jf s a possible amalgamation of the We counties. A BMuttfid Valley 1 From a scenic point of view ttf valley in winter is verjk beautiful Locking from the road, as it down the hillside, at the flat, snonvcovered floor of the valley, dottM with dark clumps of pines and somii| by creeks and rivers, one is struck the feeling of having discovered a nef ■ world. Surrounded by mountski capped with snow, below wfikb bush blankets the slope with its sbniMk green, the calm, solitary majesty the valley can be very strongly To the city-dweller the crisp, bracnl. air and clean whiteness of the .SNR are a welcome break from the grey dampness of the smoke and'lff to which he is accustomed. s Settlers in these parts must be mk sufficient people who can make jKi nwn amusement and not dependM theatres and other ready-aiß diversions to give them some resM lor retaining their interest in life. the most important thing in the life < the settlers is the one that very | goes unnoticed. Carried by thin gMa across the valleys aijd beside the is a single telephone wire. The vahfr of the telephone in offsetting to stow degree the feeling of being shut > from the rest of the world is ineraK able. With the radio, it breaks wh» , might otherwise be a matHMag monotony.