‘West Coast Disease Of Fragmentation’

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32127, 24 October 1969, Page 15

‘West Coast Disease Of Fragmentation’

Fragmentation and parochialism were the worst diseases of the West Coast, and until they were overcome the province would be doomed to mediocrity, the Commissioner for the West Coast (Mr D. B. Dallas) said on Wednesday evening.

Addressing the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers, he said that the same problem extended from the level of

local government to the management of the smallest industry.

i! Mr Dallas said that the ■ mining operations of the West " Coast and the early exploitation of its resources had had a marked effect on the outlook and character of the people. The restructuring of its economy, therefore, involved the entire economic and social spectrum. “The West Coast exhibits all the classic symptoms of a lagging region. It has never been fully' developed, and - management ‘know-how’ is s very sadly lacking. “As the social climate improves the area will become • more attractive to outside investors." he said. Mr Dallas said that the community development pro- • gramme of the West Coast , was essentially an investment in the people. An assessment of its resources could be made, methods of developing them could be defined, but implementing them presented many difficulties because this involved dealing with I people.