Refusal Of Govt. Aid For Akaroa Berated

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30151, 7 June 1963, Page 10

Refusal Of Govt. Aid For Akaroa Berated

It was wrong to spend so much money on a shocking, rambling dump of a town like Rotorua with its “pure imitation” Maori houses while so little was spent on Akaroa, the jewel of the Pacific, Mr A. R. Mackay told the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce at its monthly meeting last night. Corrugated iron, he said, could be seen in the so-called Rotorua Maori houses.

Mr Mackay said Rotorua had a few mud pools that no-one wanted to see after the first 30 seconds. He was seconding a motion put to the council, by Mr B. J. Drake, that the refusal of two applications for Government finance to build licensed accommodation for tourists at Akaroa should be referred to the chamber’s tourist committee for consideration. The motion was carried.

The acting chairman of the council (Mr J. Fraser) said he disagreed with the remarks about Rotorua. Mr Drake said that finance had been held out as being available for the development of hotels and resorts but Akaroa had been told that it would have to have thousands more tourists visit it before it could be recognised as a tourist resort. Two reputable businessmen had

applied for assistance to help Akaroa become fully developed as a tourist resort Which Conies' First

Now, he said, this gentleman (Mr K. B. Longmore, the general manager of the Tourist Department), in his wisdom, has stated that many thousands more had to come for Akaroa to qualify. It was the old precedence over again; which comes first the chicken or the egg?

Mr Drake said he thought it was a serious matter that Akaroa, which could be one of the most attractive tourist resorts in the South Island, could not qualify for financial assistance. The town had had two disastrous hotel fires in recent years. That it should get this sort of reply, from a responsible member of a responsible organisation, was very serious, Mr Drake said. Astounded He had been astounded to read that Mr Longmore had declined financial assistance for the building of licensed accommodation for tourists at Akaroa on the ground that Akaroa would require thousands more tourists visitin' before it would be recognised as a tourist resort, said the chairman of the Can-

terbury Public Relations Committee (Mr H. E. Radley) yesterday. “Tourists cannot visit places unless they have somewhere to sleep and it is axiomatic that facilities attract tourists,” Mr Radley said.

“In my view, a tourist resort requires to offer the following: excellent scenery long hours of sunshine, good fishing, boating trips, inter-, esting walks, historical background and good, warm water swimming. “Most of the year. Akaroa offers all that, and is, moreover, a little over 50 miles from a first-class airport which will shortly be able to take the largest jet airliners

“The fact that tourist vessels such as the Himalaya have visited Akaroa more than confirms what I claim, and it is time that the tourist authorities recognised that Canterbury not only offers such places as Akaroa. but that Hanmer is worth developing. “Lake Sumner should not be forgotten, and every assistance should be given to those running the ice-skating and snow sports areas of Canterbury.” The Canterbury Public Relations office staff was constantly recommending Akaroa to tourists and had received innumerable expressions of appreciation of Akaroa and its easy accessibility, he said.

“I feel sure that the Progress League and the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce and other bodies will join me in this protest, and call upon the Minister in charge of the Tourist Department (Mr Eyre) and to instruct his department to take a more realistic view of Canterbury’s requirements,” Mr Radley said.