'We should oppose’

Press, 2 August 1977, Page 24

' We should oppose’

The Timaru Harbour Board has been urged to oppose moves to have traffic encroaching on the harbour r.rea. But the South Canterbury Public Relations Association and local road carriers support the idea of a coastal route.

Servicing of port facilities could become “chaotic” if extra traffic was taken through the port, either off the Port Loop Bridge or from the suggested coastal bypass across the bay, the monthly meeting of rhe Timaru Harbour Board’s finance committee was told.

Mr J. G. Butterfield urged harbour board members to oppose steps which could lead to more traffic encroaching on the

harbour area. The head-of-the-harbour road had not been designed to take such heavy traffic, he said. The board, he added, had written to the Timaru City Council and the Minister of Works and Development (Mr Young), stating it did not favour the harbour area being used as a deviation for heavy traffic. Since the Rankine and Hill survey, the board had based its whole planning for the development and servicing of the inner harbour area on the assump tion that the land it had would continue to be available for proper port development. Mr Butterfield said he could not see any way in which the suggested coastal roading system could be developed

economically without encroaching on the harbour area. The committee decided 'o recommend that the board write to the Timaru City Council again, expressing concern and asking to be kept fully informed of the progress of investigations into any alternative traffic systems being planned for Timaru: and, if possible, the board be allowed to sit in on any discussions of plans that could affect it. The South Canterbury Public Relations Association decided recently in favour of the coastal route as the best possible heavy traffic bypass for Timaru. And it has asked the city council to keep it informed of the situation. Road carriers in South Canterbury support the proposed coastal bypass. The president of the S.C. Road Transport Association (Mr I. Frew) said ( carriers favoured the route as one w'hich would relieve the problems of the stock route. A route cutting through the Ashbury area and across the bay would be the best. The effluent problem from stock would be reduced and. as trucks would not be encountering hills, the vehicle noise would also be lessened Mr Frew said that various local groups had made their preferences known, and the carriers felt it was time their voice was heard. If people did not indicate their preferences the technical advisory com mittee considering the master transport plan ’ Id get nowehrere, he said.