RAPID GROWTH OF TOKOROA

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27442, 31 August 1954, Page 7

RAPID GROWTH OF TOKOROA

TIMBER TOWN NEAR KINLEITH MILLS Tokoroa, the timber town near Kinleith, has increased its population from a scattered 140 in 1947 to a fast-growing community of 5000. In the pulp; paper, and timber industries at Kinleith, four and a half miles away, some 1500 people are employed by New Zealand Forest Products, Ltd. This town can boast the largest private housing scheme in the Dominion, and the company has aleady built 630 employee houses. Records show that the number of primary ‘school children at Tokoroa in 1949 was 199. Now, with two primary schools (the new Central School was opened in February this year) the number of pupils is 985. Another 110 children attend the Putaruru .High School, 14$ miles away. Business has expanded from a handful of retailers in 1947 to a total of 70 successfully established shops today, and other businesses such as plumbing, carrying, plastering, also number 70. With adequate banking, shopping, rail and passenger facilities, Tokoroa is a selfcontained community. Pulp, paper, wood chips for the Penrose wallboard mill, and sawn timber from the Kinleith mills account for about 70 per cent, of the outward rail traffic. Total traffic is about 500,000 tons each year. Machinery for the hydro-electric project, fertiliser, cement, and other items make up the bulk of the inward traffic. A new picture theatre to seat 640 is nearing completion. The building of a 12-bed hospital at ( Tokoroa by the Waikato Hospital Board will begin soon and work on a sewerage scheme, estimated to cost £85,000, is under way. New churches are planned or being built. More than 20 clubs and associations cater for .the cultural and recreational needs of the town. A 17J acre sports ground has been completed, and a swimming pool nearby has been provided for. According to the postal authorities, Tokoroa *will have a population of 10,000 by 1960—almost as large as Ashburton.