Drift north means trouble for Roads Board — Mayor

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33928, 22 August 1975, Page 2

Drift north means trouble for Roads Board — Mayor

(A’ Z Press Association) WELLINGTON, August 21. Transport planners could not continue to act like King Canute in ignoring the serious implications for roading of the increasing population imbalance in New Zealand, said Mr M. J. Minogue, the Mayor of Hamilton and a member of the National Roads Board, at the roading symposium at Victoria University today.

Mr Minogue said that 72 per cent of the population already lived in the North Island, and one New' Zealander in three was “motorised.” By the year 2000 the population might be sm, and present indications were that

most would live in the North Island — especially in the Auckland area. Near markets Energy production and industry were becoming increasingly based on Auckland, because of transport economics, industry had to be near its markets. “In a very real sense, transport economics are the factors which, in the opinion of many people, make irre-

versible the already huge population and industrial imbalance within ’ New Zealand.” said Mr Minogue. The implications for the National Roads Board were serious, and he -questioned whether funds could be allocated for long on the old sector system.

The board faced great problems, with inflation eating into its income. “The likelihood is that in view of the present financial climate, the total real revenue available to the board will progressively diminish,” he said. The finance problem was aggravated by the fact that the board, had to heed Government policies. While restraints were placed on its income, the Government was still likely to direct the board to divert its resources into areas where there was a risk of unemployment. “These areas tend, at this stage at any rate, to be away

from the main centres of population,” he said. Transport and roading planning had to be reassessed. “It seems to me that the planners have to sit down with the land usepopulation map of New Zealand, and define national roading priorities.”

If the Roads Board did hot make the necessary changes, someone else might, and in a" much clumsier and more bureaucratic way.

King Canute “Negatively, like King Canute, you might elect to talk to the tide and instruct it to reverse itself,” he told his audience. “That indeed Seems to me to be the present response of most of us. The final question is — how long before the tide overruns us?” „ The symposium was organised by the road research unit of the Roads Board.