KAUPOKONUI BRIDGE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 8 June 1923, Page 5

KAUPOKONUI BRIDGE.

OPENED BY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS.

j The Minister of Public Works, Hor • J. G. Coates, had a busy uay yestei day visiting various parts of Taranul and meeting deputations. After leaving Eltham he and hi [ party boarded a train at 'Je Roti, an. a short journey took them to Kapuni- ' as iar as the line has been completed { Dinner was partaken of at Manaia, am ac 2 p.m. Mr. Coates was at Kaupokc , inn, where it had been arranged tha lie should open tiie new bridge on th , mam road. Tnere were a large number of peopL present, and the chairman of the Wai , mate West County Council (Mr T Me I'm Hips) extended a warm welcome* t< the Minister, and said that the Hon J. «jt. Coates had very kindly consente< to visit the Kaupokonui district ii order that he might open the nev bridge Ihose present would agre< that there was no more fitting person especially in view of the fact that Mr Coates had acted as a kind of joint anc several m conjunction with the Waimate West County Council in eomiecj!, on "lth the erection of the bridge Ine JYaimate West County Counci would be pleased to have the Ministei as a joint and several in the carrying out of other proposed works in tht county. (Laughter.) Mr. McPhillip? said he wished to take the opportunity of extending on behalf of the Council and the ratepayers a very hearty wel come to Mr. Coates. The" last occasion on which Mr. Coates was in the district—some eight or ten months ago— he had inspected the old bridge, and Air. Coates had come to the same conclusion as he (the speaker) had— that the bridge was unsafe for traffic Ihe estimate for the new bridge had been £4000. The Council had dof c the work unoer the supervision of Mr E if Vf'^ and they were P^sed to say that the work had been completed well under the estimated cost. "Mr Mc- - Ihilhps tnen called on the member for the district, Mr. O. J. Hawken, M P to say. a few words. Mr. Hawken said that Ministers were not seen in the district very often, and consequently when they did come they got so many requests that they would hke to be able to keep away altogether. However, Mr. Coates was always game. Mr. Hawken said it was a pleasing thing to note the number of prominent works which had been carried out in the county. He thought they were a monument to the good work of such men as Mr. MePhillips, who had done so much to put the roads and bridges on a permanent footing. Such men had shown the way to other counties, and it was to their credit, Mr. Hawken said he remembered the Waimate West County when it was in a state of nature As a matter of fact, he thought that his father was the first man ,to cross the Kaupokonui river with a dray. They had made wonderful progress since then, and he believed that the county was now in as pood a position as any other iv New Zealand (Applause.) Mr. Coates, who was received with enthusiasm, thanked the previous sneakers for their kind references to himself and the very pleasant welcome extended to him. He had heard a lot about Taranaki, and had had. the ! pleasure of passing through the district on various occasions, but they could say what they liked about Taranaki • it '' ?vu glVe the countl 'F the returns | lhere were good farmers in Taranaki, and they were constantly improving I what they had. They had made great ' progress m road and bridge construe- j turn, and in fact they had been forced , m this direction through having to ' convey their produce such long distances by road. In some narts of New j Zealand ordinary macadam roads were I quite satisfactory, but an example had been set in Taranaki of what "a progressive programme and good people rould do. No doubt the roading problem was a big one. Speaking for the Public Works Department, they had not been able to please everyone; in fact, they had not been able to please ! themselves. The Department must re- ! cognise that good work emild be done by local authorities. The work carried i out in the Waimate West County was a credit to all concerned. Some people had an idea that the Government should do this and the Government 1 should do that, but what the Depart- | ment wanted was decentralisation; they | wanted to place more resoonsibility in the hands of the local* authorities. ; lhere were so many inspectors to watch ' the work of the local bodies, and after ' all the "cocker" was a great inspector and critic. (Laughter.) In any case h«» was the best man we had in New i Zealand, because he was the one man j we looked to for the country's succesß and prosperity. Continuing, the Minister said he hoped to carry out still further decentralisation and place more responsibility upon local authorities, and allow them to carry out the necessary work. All that would be necessary - would be the Government engineer should know I of the local body's policy and approve ■ of the scheme of work. He wanted to , see the politician, as far as public works were concerned, eliminated altogether. Whether Government, local authority or company, it all depended on the staff employed. If they had good men it would be perfectly safe to place the responsibility of carrying out J the-work on them. The efforts of the! local authority and the Government must be co-operative. Continuing, the Minister said he could not tell those present whether the Main South road would be a main highway or not: the Highways Board would " decide that. I The counties would be grouped, and a highways council representative of local bodies within the group ejected. The carrying out of such a policy was giving the ratepayers something they had never hid before. He knew that the tanners in the district were paying heavy rates, hut in ]S or 20 "years, when their loans would be wiped out' they wouJd be in clover. In 'concluding, the Minister again thanked tWe present for the reoention given him, and de-lared the work on the bridge to be well and faithfully carried out. i Mrs. T. McPhillips then cut the rib- ' bon stretched across the entrance to the bridge. Cheers for the Minister and the county chairman followed, and in a l^ief ponoluclinor sneech Mr. McPhillips eulogised the work of the member f'M- the district. He snid that Mr. Hawken had always given him every consideration a^ chairman of the County Council, and the Government engineer • Mr. Ball) had never put anything in his way to hinder progress.