OPUNAKE RAILWAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1243, 27 September 1911, Page 5

OPUNAKE RAILWAY.

• CLAIMS OF SOUTHERN ROUTE. A deputation from Southern Taranakj waited .upon tho Prime Minister .(Sir Joseph Ward) and tho Minister for Public Works (Hon. R. M'Kenrfe) yesterday ■afternoon, to discuss the question of the route of the proposed Opunake railway. The request of the deputation was that different routes should bo inquired into; but they favoured a suggestion that the branch should junction with, the main line at Normanby, instead of at Stratford, «r thjs would afford a niiich-nccded relief to "the h«avy traffic on the roads, which were difficult to maintain, owing to ..tho cost of getting metal. ■ They pointed out that, the Normanby ronto wonfd enable the exports of dairy produce from\ tho district to continue to take their natural course by way of the port of Patea. Mr. Pearcc, M.P., who introduced the deputation, said that out of tho 8476 tons of dairy produce exported annually from Southern Taranaki, 6780 tons wore shipped at, Patea, and 1836 tons at New Plymouth. , .

The deputation consisted of Messrs. W. Powdrell (chairman of Kaupokonui Dairy Company and a director of the' Patea Freezing Company), T. A. Bridge (actingchairman of Waimate West County Council), nnd J. B. Murdoch (chairman of Jolt's Dairy Company). Sir Joseph Ward said the Government had not yet decided to buikt the railway. The question of. what railways should be authorised this year had not yet been gone into. He mentioned that representations- had been made in favour of other routes for the Opunake- railway, and another deputation had said that tho port of Patea would not be able to cope with all the traffic in tho future. So far as he knew, Patea was all right. The whole matter would be . carefully investigated from beginning to end before anything was decided.

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