TOURIST TRAFFIC

Grey River Argus, 29 May 1935, Page 6

TOURIST TRAFFIC

WEST COAST DRIVE Raising of £l5O In furtherance of the schemes proposed to attract, more tourists to the West Coast, a meeting of local body representatives was held in the Greymouth Borough Council Chambers last evening, the Mayor (Mr W. Aleldrum) presiding. Also present were, Alessrs J. O’Brien, M.P., E. R. Folx (Westport Borough Council and Buller Progress League), J. 11. Powell (Buller County Council), W. Clayton (Inangahua County Council and Grey Electric Power Board). J. W. Hannan (Grey County Council), Dr. E. Teiehelmann (Hokitika Borough Council and Westland Progress League), and Air F. 11. Denton (Greymouth Town Clerk). Apologies for absence were received from Air J. Kilkenny (Mayor of Westport), and Air F. Archer (Chairman of the Inangahua County Council). The Alayor said that he was pleased to see the representatives from outside bodies present in response to the circulars sent out. He explained what had transpired at the meeting with Alessrs C. H. Clibborn (Secretary and Treasurer of the Lyttelton Harbour Board), G. G. Stewart (Publicity Alanager, N.Z. Railways), and E. S. Brittonden (District Traffic Manager. N.Z. Ra Iways), as already reported in the

‘‘Argus.As a result of the meetin.u. a resolution was carried inviting representatives to a meeting with a view to forming a Tourist Development Committee, to further the internet q of the West Coast in attracting tourists. Hd (the Mayor) knew that tin re -was rivalry between the towns, wbirh was in itself a good thing, but tl)i> was one matter which affected th-' whole West CoaM and the Committee would look after the iuteresrs of the whole district. Alessrs Clibborn and Stewart had suggested that a committee, or committees, should bo fanned in order to raise. fund s to get the propaganda going. ]n the past, it scorned that the policy of the Tourist Department' confined the tourists to the North Island, but we In the South Island know that Iwe had more attractions. Probablv flu 1 time limit prevented many of the tourists coming to the South Island, but there was no reason why a little longer time could n"t bo arranged for. a s long as + t-‘v lot the tourists know what attractions they had. No doubt, inct'cnsod tourist traffic would benefit ft... West Cnn<t. not only from a fin-an.-ial point of v : ow. hut outside visitors wore an ad va nI :i go. It' weiiU ,v h an that a p-nod (leal of interest wjr*ih] lie taken in overseas parts by meeting people from other countries. 'Pho : dea of the mooting that 'vns to decide upon the best means of at!vertising the West Coast’s attractions, and the best moans of raising th e money required. Tt had been suggested at the previous mooting that the West Coast should find £5OO. of which £lOO was to go towards the T.vttolton Harbour Board's' scheme for attracting tourists to the South Island. and the remainder for a West Coast drive. Of the £5OO, the sum of Cloo would be found by the. Rnilwav Department, and £lOO by the Tourist Department, leaving £3OO to come from the West Coast, and probably they would be able to raise more. Hiq suggestion was that subscription lists be opened in the various centres and if more money than was required were received, the surplus could be used to write up and publish accounts of local attractions.

Mr Powell said that, apparently, he had been mistaken, as he thought the object was to be the commencement of a united front to open up roads and railways. Tn Buller, they had several roads they wanted opened up from Karamea to Collingwood and up Fox’s river. which was the finest river in New Zealand. As far as his Council was concerned it was prepared to meet its obligations on an equitable basis. They wanted roads and the general development of the country', and he supposed that the tourists came into the scheme. He was sure that the Buller County Council ’*» share would come forward, and lie suggested that those present form themselves into a committee. Air Hannan explained the two schemes which had been propounded. All that the local bodies were asked to find was £l5O, as the other £l5O had been promised by South Westland interests. If they could get ton or a dozen local bodies to come in it would mean that each would have to find only £lO or £l5. Tn reply to a question, the Alayor <*sid that £3OO was wanted from the West Coast, for the two schemes, and Alessrs Clibborn and Stewart already had £l5O before they came north of Wataroa. Air Hannan suggested that thev should ascertain how many local bodies were prepared to contribute. The Ma.vor said that he did not know whether it was necessary' to ask the local bodies to find all the money. Tf they opened subscription lists, some people, the hotelkeepers for instance, would probably be prepared to give something. Air Hannan said that through the local bodies would be the • quickest Iway to get the £l5O required, and then anv money raised through sub scriplions could be used bv the local committees.

Dr. Teichelmann said that the move mont had the full sympathy of the Hokitika Borough Council, and ho was glad to know that Greymouth was coming in at last—he would not say long last—to help in the publicity that they in Hokitika had been do ing for the West Coast ' for many r rears. He could not agree with Air Hannan that the local bodies should bear the brunt of the cost. Some local bodies were in poor circumstances such as his own Council, but they could collect the money required. If more money than, was necessary for the scheme under consideration were received, it could be spent on good "lass literature. He displayed some of the pamphlets which the Westland Progress League had produced during iho past 25 years. covering frn-m Westport to South Westland. U‘ knew that h n could get £lO9 : n one afternoon in Hokitika, without toimh ing the local bodies. He wa c vow pleased to be present at the me-' 1 ing. and to take part in any future pro eoedings. Mr O ’Briep said that he was very pleased to be present and to assist in nr>v wav possible in 'the obiect before the meeting. Listening to the remarks that had been made, one migh*

dor if thorn would be anv difficulty in raising the £l5O required. Their object should be to bring people to

the West Coast. Ho did not thinli they could get liner scenery in th< world. He knew that lor some time the West Coast had not had its share of the tourist traffic. Oilier attractions in the North Island had been advertised three or four times at much, and sometimes he wondered if the amount aimed at would be suf ficient to advertise the West Coast pmperh The more money spent on advertising, the more business they would get. There were, however, many local bodies unable to put even £l5 into the fund, and he felt, wit l ' Dr. Teichelmann, that local efforts should be made. If those present formed themselves into a committee, it would really take the place of th Progress League, which had gone out in debt. There should be somethin" done to put the West Coast “on the map’’ for tourists. Outside of the cash consideration, ho felt that they should be given an opportunity of seeing what beauties the West 'Const had in store for them. He hoped that the outcome of the meeting would b< an association t 0 raise funds to ad vertise the West Coast. Dr. Teichelmann moved that each district, Greyrnouth, Westport, Inan gahua and Hokitika, be asked to form committees to raise funds for the purpose outlined. Tn seconding the motion, Mr Fox said that the Buller Progress T.oagm' had been a very live bodv, and had been assisted materially by the Borough Council. The Builer ’attractionhad not been given the publicity they deserved. They were isolated in Wes* port, through the difficulty- of access and the non-completion of the Bull Gorge railway. He could sav. withon’ fear of contradiction, that the amount of. money required to complete the dwev and to pay interest and sink n-; fund, would be amply repaid b*he revenue. The line should never have been stopped. Tt would Have "'-onol up coal and timber resource" and the only" slate quarrv in New Zealand. It was unthinkable that the Government should have stopped the railvav i'.he n if did. Thousands of pounds worth of material was dump ed when unemployed should have been nlnced on the work. Tf they had. ‘hev would have been £3 a 'month better off than they were living in Westport. The Labour Party had said at unemployment rates it was

bringing down, wages, lie said let them make the best of the conditions they (were working under, and strive for the better. He would like Greymouth and everywhere else to support them in the matter of the completion of the line. He was in favour of the 1 resolution. The tourist traffic was growing and was going to be a big tiling in New Zealand. Every tourist advertised the country and induced others to come. Mr Clayton said he considered the first thing they should do was to endorse the scheme. Regarding the raising of funds, he considered that the local bodies should be made responsible for the collection. As far as the PoAver Board wa s concerned, he had authority to say that they would pay their quota, but he could rot sav how the Tnangahua County Council felt, as ho was acting for another man on their behalf. The Mayor suggested that they might fix a fair quota for each district, according to population. Dr. Teichelmann said that he cohsidered it would be a mistake to fix the quotas, as they would get no more than the bare amount. Mr. Clayton moved that the meeting approve of the scheme put forward by Messrs Clibborn and Stewart. The motion was seconded by Mr Powell and carried. Mr Fox said that he had had com plaints from tourists regarding the dearth of view s for them to take away and he thought that they should move in that direction. Dr. Teichelmann: That is the whole object of the idea. Sir. O’Brien said that he was very much in favour of Dr. Teichelmann’s motion, but he was against local bodies collecting subscriptions. It was his experience that people were against local bodies collecting for anything. Tie thought that each district committee should report back in three months’ time to a meeting similar to that being held that evening. They would then see how far they were getting, and if it was necessary for any district to raise more. The more money that was received, the better it would be for the West Coast. If the delegates would form committees, he did not think there would be any difficulty in getting the money. Dr. Teichelmann suggested that each

committee should notify what they had in the meantime, so that the Railway Publicity Department could be notified and get to work. Dr. Teichelmann’s motion, that committees be formed in each centre, was carried. Mr. Powell moved that the representatives from the various local committees meet in Greymouth on the last Tuesday in July, to receive reports of activities. The motion was seconded by Mr. Fox and carried. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding.