West Coast and alcohol
Sir, — Inchbonnie, Kokiri, Kotuku, Kopara, declining Kumara, Blackball — the list stretches back to the place names of the 1860 s gold rush. The West Coast abounds in place names of communities which no longer exist or do so as mere remnants, with empty schoolhouses to testify that once families made their Jiomes there. What became of those families when the gold, coal, timber was exhausted? Perhaps the higher than national average of alcohol consumption is one of the consequences of the temporary nature of West Coast communities. It is clear that many existing townships are too small to support amenities other than the pubs. I applaud those who are branching out into fields such as horticulture, and extending farming and tourism. They point the way to breaking the dependence on extractive industries which, for all the wealth they have brought to our country, give little evidence of it in the Westland which produced it. — Yours, etc., VALERIE HEINZ. August 28, 1984.
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Press, 28 August 1984, Page 12
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165West Coast and alcohol Press, 28 August 1984, Page 12
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