MINISTER’S SUPPORT SOLICITED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22317, 30 April 1947, Page 4

MINISTER’S SUPPORT SOLICITED

NORTHERN RAIL DISTRICT NEEDS STOCK MOVEMENTS SYMPATHETIC HEARING “The area yet to tap north of Gisborne should make.the project well worth while and I will be pleased to associate myself with Mr. I). AY. Coleman, ALP., in an interview with the Alinistev of Works, Air. R. Semple, to see if we can move towards the completion of the East Coast line so that you will have a complete link between AVellington and Auckland,’’ said the Minister of Agriculture, Air. E. L. Cullen, yesterday afternoon after hearing a combined deputation from the Gisborne - East Coast provincial district of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand and the Gisborne Trades Council. The deputation stated Gisborne’s case for the completion of the northern railway link between Matawai and Taneatua. Mr. Cullen said he had carefully noted the figures quoted by the speakers and agreed that the railway, if completed, would open up a great deal of land that would take a greater population and result in greater production. It would be a valuable contribution to the total wealth of the country. The deputation was introduced to the Minister by Mr. Coleman, district member and Under-Secretary for Works. “The Route is There” “Rumour came to us that there was not a grade through that area and we wish to prove that the route is there,” said Mr. C. PI. Cooper, the opening speaker for the federation on the railway link question. “Road services cannot compete with railways to-day for heavy freights. Road haulage costs Is per ton per mile and the railways operate on from 3d to 5d per ton per mile. “We maintain that the completion of this last link in the network of North Island railways will give us a much shorter access .to the north and relieve pressure on the Ohakufle-Frankton Junction section of the line. “Potentially we have one of the richest agricultural and pastoral districts in New Zealand,” concluded Mr. Cooper. Producing a copy of a plan for the Minister, Mr E. C. Glanville, a Gisborne surveyor, reported on an aerial survey made of the district followed by two weeks’ field work He had no hesitation in saying that it would be possible to get a route with a satisfactory grade. The route he had followed had been that of the Koranga Stream sweeping out through Te Wera and then down the Waioeka River. He understood that two routes already had been surveyed by the Works Department, and said that the route he had chosen had been a combination of the two. The first departmental survey had been carried out in 1922. Mr. Glanville agreed that the route he had walked over might be altered slightly after a detailed survey. He asked that his plan be submitted to the Works Department, the only way to check on it being by ground surveys and possibly by aerial survey. The distance from Matawai to Opotiki on his route was 51 miles and although short lengths of the line were steep, requiring short tunnels and viaducts, no long tunnels would be necessary. Benefit to Farmers The benefit to farmers, particularly those engaged in .the pastoral industry, was explained by Mr. F. E. Humphreys. The Gisborne district was one of the largest breeding grounds of breeding ewes and cattle to be fattened in outside districts. He estimated that 350.000 to 400,000 sheep went out of the district annually. . , , Describing how he had arrived at those figures, Mr. Humphreys said that in 1922 there were three freezing works operating in the district and they killed anoroximately 1.000,000 sheep. Very few" sheep left .the district in those days. In the season 1945-46 two works killed 600,000 and there was approximately the same sheep population in the district. The balance unaccount-

ed for was 400,000 head. According to statistics, 1,05,000 lambs were docked in a year and. assuming there were 57,000 deaths, 1,000,000 remained. Subtract .the 600,000 killed at the works and there was a balance of 400,000. Mr. Humphreys said that half or more of that 400 000 wont north and it would be of great benefit to farmers if they could be trucked by rail. This year there had been more sheep railed than ever before. Still dealing with sheep, he said 26,000 he; d had been trucked to Frankton Junction from the Matawhero station and nearly as many again had been taken from other stations in the district. By the long route from Gisborne to Morrinsville, via Palmerston North, the distance was 513 miles, whereas that distance would be 249 miles if the northern rail link were completed. Cattle trucked last year from Matawhero numbered 25,373 head and it was estimated that 12,000 or 13,000 would travel north. Most of those animals would make the journey by rail if those facilities existed. Other advantages would be the better transport facilities for bringing manure into the district. Supported by Trades Council Representing the Gisborne Trades Council, Mr. D. J Moran supported the representations of the farmers' deputation and said his council considered the completion of the railway link as an urgent necessity so far as the district was concerned. By opening up new territory to support an increased population and in turn a greater level of production a result would be a better standard of living in the district. The completion of the link would be of direct and indirect benefit to 1,978,240 acres in the district and of that area at present 1,454,868 acres was productive. Comparing the Gisborne district with Taneatua, which enjoyed a rail link with Auckland. Mr. Moran said the productive area of that district was only 408,130 acres. He agreed that the Gisborne area mentioned was probably not as intensively farmed as that at Taneatua. but believed that the benefits of the railway extension north from Gisborne would lead to an active land settlement policy and an intensification of farming in the Gisborne district. To indicate the value of the rail in the progress of a district, Mr. Moran quoted the cases of Taneatua, North Auckland and Gisborne over a period of 20 years. The character of Taneatua and North Auckland were similar to Gisborne for the purposes of the comparison, bu.t they had the advantage of rail transport. In the matter of population the - percentage increases were; Taneatua, 251.76; North Auckland, 117.5; Gisborne, 98.1. Cattle population percentage increases over the same period were; Taneatua, 259; North Auckland, 159; Gisborne 85. Sheep population: Taneatua, 31; North Auckland, 158; Gisborne 7. Harbour Development In the establishment of secondary industry Mr Moran said that Gisborne, in the Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay 10year plan, was given third priority of eight selected towns in New Zealand for the decentralisation of industry. An energetic committee had been formed in Gisborne and there had been numerous inquiries, but further arrangements had been temporarily abandoned when it was learned that the district had no direct rail connection with the north, Mr Moran referred to the harbour development at Gisborne and, considering Gisborne’s difficulties, he estimated that they resulted in an additional cost to the taxpayer of approximately £40,000 annually. That, he said, was the cost of railing produce to Napier. Talking of employment, particularly for seasonal workers, Mr E. Lindley said he had learned before joining the deputation that 80 to 100 men from the Haiti Freezing Works would be out of employment this week-end. In 1940 a promise had been given by the Minister of Work, that when the war was finished the northern railway from Gisborne would have priority. The deputation believed that if the northern link were completed thousands more workers would be employed in the district. Further workers would be required for the w'ool stores, railways and wharf. “We believe that if the railway were completed the harbour project would be completed,” added Mr Lindley, “and this port is 24 hours’ nearer sailing to the home market than any other port in New Zealand.” Mr J. Mastrovich said that the provison of a road between the railheads would be a “concession to oil and rubber interests.” The road connection would be “too expensive and too burdensome on the taxpayers."