OPUNAKE HARBOUR.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 14 December 1927, Page 8

OPUNAKE HARBOUR.

EARLY DAYS OF PORT'. Fifty years ago Opunake was a busy shipping centre, the Defence Department conducting a , boating service and lightering goods for traders, the bulk of the stores, timber, and Contractors’ goods for Western Tara-na-ki being handled. Government boats, including the Stella, and liinemoa, called regularly, bringing a number of passengers each trip. The surf boats were worked by the A.C. bore© men, the late Sergeant Wm. Ebbett being in charge. Later Mr. Frank Des Forges and others took a prominent part in unloading operations. They were all fine hands with a boat, and they needed to be. After the peaceful settlement of the Maori trouble and the disbanding of the A.C. Force, the Opunake Lighter Co., Ltd., was formed, and carried on for some time. It was soon realised, however, that better facilities were needed for unloading, and a breakwater and wharf were mooted. In ISB2 a survey of the bay was undertaken by the* Government, and Mr. C. W. TJ.ursthouse prepared a report and plan showing the probable cost of a mole 300 yards long to be from £16,000 to £20,000. This report was followed by a charting of the bay by Air. John Thompson, who recommended a screw pile jetty. The matter was again brought before the Government, and Mr. Blackett upon a breakwater in concrete. Nothing came of this proposal. Tehn came the Opunake A\ harr Co., Ltd., with many hard-headed farmers ns shareholders, and they endeavoured to provide facilities with a capital of £SOOO. The aid of the Government was invoked, and the Marine Department drew plans for a. pile jetty 300 feet long from the north-west side. Voting £IOO for the work, subsequently a further £2OO was voted towards the cost of moorings. The jetty was built, but the piles were pot adequately sheathed with copper, and the to re do got to work. After standing for three years the three outer piers of piles came ashore in a gale and rendered the jetty practically useless. Later repairs were l effected, ancl once again the old surf boat men got together and re-established a surf boat service, carrying on for some time, cargo being conveyed from the ship’s side to the jetty. An interesting development took place at this stage. Through nondefence of a claim -under the Workers’ Compensation Act by Mr. Cave, who was employed to carry out'repairs, the Wharf Co. lost control, Mr. Cave hemming the owner. Subsequently the jetty was purchased by the 1 Opunake Harbour Board. Then came Labour Day. 1922, and one of the fiercest storms in the history of the country. It demolished the end of the jetty and made the whole structure unsafe. Holding firmly to the belief that shipping facilities were a necessity, the Harbour Board adopted Mr. Cyrus Williams’s plan of a mole 900 feet and wharf of 500 feet, estimated to cost £50,00. The loan was sanctioned by ratepayers, raised and spent, with results already known. Thus for 50 years tempting plan has tantalised the people* of this district, and at last it has been brought to fruition, as was proved on Tuesday last, when the Aratapu drew up to the wharf, discharged her cargo promptly, and departed. Sceptics may scoff at the possibilities of working up trade for the* port, but we feel sure that during the next T2 months the Harbour Board will demonstrate that the venture' is not an illstarred one after all, but a sound investment. The question of prom ding more shelter and of extending the wharf will, of course, have to be faced in the near future. — “Opunake Times.”