Grey River Argus MONDAY, April 22nd, 1929. FAR SOUTH WESTLAND.

Grey River Argus, 22 April 1929, Page 4

Grey River Argus MONDAY, April 22nd, 1929. FAR SOUTH WESTLAND.

A proposal fraught with big possibilities for Westland, which the Member for the District, in co-operation with settlers in the Far South of the province, is shortly to bring under the notice of the Government is that of a road to connect Jackson’s Bay with the one which reaches down as far as Okuru. It has been always recognised that from the Sounds northwards there are no where on this coast facilities for a harbour to compare with those at Jackson’s Bay, where the only need is a jetty to afford protection from nor’-westerly weather for shipping such as could enter no port at present being used on the West Coast. In favourable weather at present the largest vessels could utilise this bay- The extent of country to be negotiated with such a road is comparatively nowise extensive; it being estimated that a total outlay of £73,000 would provide for the reading and bridging, as well as for the required jetty at the bay itself. An immense area of valuable timber country would be tapped, whilst only one large stream is to be bridged, the Arawata. There is also a large expanse of pastoral country, and with handy means to export live stock, the utility of these areas would be greatly augmented. Today the land remains in very large holdings, without much be ing done in the way of improvement, whereas with the road mentioned, it is certain that the State could find room in the Far South for a large number of pastoralists. One has to go back to the very early days of the West Coast to realise the neglect from which the Jaekson’s Bay region has suffered. There was a settlement there established even before farming of almost any sort was inaugurated anywhere else in the province of Westland, but the settlement perished on account solely of its loneliness and isolation. Had facilities for regular communication and transport only been then available, it is certain that it would not have remained for the present decade to demonstrate what fine quality cattle, sheep, pigs, and dairy produce is obtain•able from the far south of West land, and that, instead, it would have been the most productive portion of the West Coast in our own day. The road nroposed would undoubtedly render Jackson’s Bay a regular port, as payable freights would obtain for steamers. The mineral resources of the region remain unexplored, though coal deposits are known, to exist, and a few bores would doubtless disclose payable seam?.. The advantages of a road linking Okuru and Jackson’s Bay for all of the settlers below the Waiho have already been pointed out by the Commissioner of Westland Crown Lands, Mr Morpeth, who doubtless realises that the State, no less than the district, would greatly benefit through such development. More than sixty years is a long time for any district to have v-oited for a road. Apart from the pastoral and industrial aspect, the route would have much value in relation to the tourist traffic, because it would make much more accessible al pine and floral scenery unsurpass ed by anything of the kind in Australasia. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the representations will be both influential and effective, and that the public works policy of the Government will be made iO embrace this un'dertaking, which cannot fail to be for the State a very reproductive expenditure indeed.