Amuri County Opposes Change In Boundaries

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30827, 12 August 1965, Page 14

Amuri County Opposes Change In Boundaries

If this application had anything to do with the stopping of building a highway through the area in the future it would be a great pity, the chairman of the Amuri County Council (Mr A. A. Macfarlane) told a sitting of the I-ocal Government Commission at Cui verden yesterday.

The commission was hearing evidence relating to a proposal that a part of the Amuri County be transferred to the Awatere County. Representatives of the Awatere council and Mr N. M. Chisholm, manager of Molesworth station, submitted evidence in favour of the transfer, which was opposed by Amuri.

; Mr Macfarlane said that he 'hoped in the future that the two roads from Hanmer Into Molesworth would eventually link up with another on the station to become a main highway to Nelson. The route envisaged would follow that of the State Electricity Department power lines, down the Wai ran valley and through the lakes district. The route would cut 71) miles from the road distance between Christchurch and Nelson, said Mr Macfarlane . Snow Problem

Snow would be a major problem on the route, which rose to 4500 ft with some parts under 14ft of snow in the winter, said Mr Chisholm. It would be a costly project and no council could support it. It would have to be a National Roads Board project. It all sounded very terrible, said Mr N. Vowles. a member of the Amuri council. The depth of snow, however, was an accumulation of fails, but with a road there the snow would be graded off after each fall. Mr P. Wynn-Williams, counsel assisting the Amuri council said such a rate was not impossible and referred to other high alpine routes which were kept open The commission members attending the hearing were the chairman (Mr J. B Yaldwin), and Messrs J. C. D Mackley and R. E. White, with the secretary (Mr T. O’Brien) in attendance. 250,000 Acres The application asks for the transfer of the southern portion of the Molesworth station, now in the Amuri county, to Awatere in which the headquarters of Molesworth are located. An area of about 250,000 acres is involved. The present proposal is one of three for boundary adjustments among three counties, Amuri, Awatere. and Marlborough. The councils involved were agreed on the other two changes: Amuri having no objection to the “Rainbow” area being transferred to Marlborough which in turn had no objection to its Upper Acheron area going to Awatere. Amuri is opposing the suggested third adjustment, involving the transfer of its part of Molesworth to Awatere.

The proceedings were initiated by steps taken by Mr Chisholm and supported by Awatere council. The application arose from a need to improve the all-weather access to Molesworth, said Mr Chisholm. With this in view the bridging programme had been advanced far ahead of the priority given by the Awatere council

Virtually the whole of the

station operations depended on the Awatere road access in the Awatere county, said Mr Chisholm. The physical aspects of the southern road to Hanmer (in the Amuri county) meant it was open for only a comparatively short period of each year. Of 8000 head of stock all the cows and calves and some of the dry stock were wintered in the Awatere. Fertilisei and seeds were all transported from the north through the Awatere route, and mail and other supplies were from that source also

About every second year 300 tons of carrots, firing, and fencing posts were taken in from the Hanmer end, said Mr Chisholm. Since 1960 no fertiliser had been taken in from Hanmer and supplies of posts would not be needed to the same extent. Surplus stock was driven out through the Hanmer route, but a road was not needed for that and it would be better without a road. Quite an amount of stock was being sent out to the north, and this was likely to increase, enabling the station to take full advantage of what could be "quite a lucrative outlet in future." Main Access The main access for the j station was through the Awa-j tere to Blenheim, which was' the main administration] centre for the station, said Mr Chisholm, who wished to| “make it clear that the station is supplied from the Molesworth headquarters and that there would not be a dozen trips a year to the Amuri area.” Mr Chisholm gave evidence of reading works undertaken by the station in the Amuri part of its area and the grants paid in lieu of rates to the two councils. A change of boundary as suggested would square the Awatere boundary with the lines of the new boundaries for the catchment board, said Mr Chisholm, who hoped that the changes would give improved finance for Awatere to do more work on the road to the north.

Transferring the suggested area to Awatere would still leave a considerable portion of the station property in the Amuri, said Mr Chisholm, who estimated this area as about 8000 acres with a value of between £16.000 and £19.000. The improvement in the rating situation for Awatere as a result of a transfer would relieve the Crown of a special grant of about £l5O that it may have to make to the county from time to time. In explanation of the grant the Awatere County Clerk (Mr W. F. Knudsen) said that after the expenditure of the grant in lieu of rates there was provision for a further £ for £ subsidy with the council and Molesworth sharing in the local contribution. More Kates Wanted “We are interested in getting more rates," said Mr Knudsen, early in the discussions in which the two local bodies ga-e evidence relating to their rates and roading expenditure and historical associations of the two counties with the respective parts of Molesworth Awatere claimed it had spent an average of about £l7O a mile in maintianing the northern access during the last five years, while Amun gave its figure on the southern 'access as £25 a mile. Both counties were rating I to 66 2-3 per cent of the maximum rate, the commission I was told but Awatere had ■“little chance of increasing”

that figure. The grants paid in lieu of rates by the station were £238 to Awatere and £472 to Amuri. Awate e council submitted also that it , was maintaining the Awatere route at a loss, while it was contended that Amuri was orohably showing a slight profit from its grant in relation to money it spent on roading serving the station. Amuri nointed out that its costs had been lowered in recent years by work done by the Electricity Department, which was using the route, but there was no guarantee that this aid would continue. "Strongly Object" Amuri council strongly oh I jected to the proposal, said Mr Macfarlane. who added i later that offsetting possible profit on the rate grant from Molesworth was the fact that the Amuri council provided other facilities such as roadside stock holding paddocks and Hanmer was a social centre for the staff. Work done by Molesworth on the road had been mainly a contra against rates. Mr Wynn-Williams submitted that the £472 rates that it had been suggested Awatere would gain by the transfer of the area from Amuri would not go far to helping Awatere. Awatere should be getting more national assistance for a road, which it contended was of national significance. Mr Williams pointed out that the rate grant that Awatere would gain would not be the full £472 but something between about £320 and £375 as some of the Molesworth [property would still remain in | Amuri "Simple Solution” The chairman of the commission, Mr Yaldwin suggest ed that "a simple solution" would be to pool the whole expenditure. Neither county was very big and they would make one big county. Mr Mackley said the amounts involved in the rate grants were not very significant and there "must be other 'significant aspects." At this stage Mr Chisholm had not made his submissions and Mr Yaldwin said the commission must hear from Mi Chisholm how the situa tion affected the running of the station. “It may be de sirable to put the whole of the property in one county or it may not." The commission has reserved its decision and after considering the submissions may bring down a provisional scheme to which organisations and individuals may then formally object.