DISTRICT HIGHWAYS COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 1895, 1 December 1923, Page 5

DISTRICT HIGHWAYS COUNCIL.

—.—.—_ —-a. FIRST MEETING. The initial meeting of the District Highways Council was held at the Borough Council Chambers at Taumarunui on Thursday morning. There were present Messrs Frank Potts (Otorohanga), A. W. Babbage (Kawhia), C. K. Wilson (Waitomo), William Sandison (Ohura), G. A. Stanton (Taumarunui), G. IT. Crocker (Kaitieke), P. Keller (Public Works Engineer), and S. Andrew (County Clerk). Mr P. Keller was unanimously elected chairman. The business of the meeting was mostly of a formal character, members generally giving expression to the aims and objects of the committee, and the lines of procedure that might be adopted. Members were unanimous in emphasising the necessity of considering their work from a national rather than a parochial viewpoint. Mr P. Keller, in returning thanks for the honour of his election, stated that the board was purely an advisory one, but its decisions would have great weight with the Department. He suggested that members should make a tour of the district and become acquainted with the country and the problems they would have to face.

Mr C. K. Wilson, in congratulating Mr Keller upon his election as chairman, emphasised the necessity of every care being taken to avoid any false move. They had a large responsibility, for their district was a large and important one. He quoted from statistics showing that the area of the district in square miles was:— Taumarunui 716, Ohura 527, Kawhia 330, Waitomo 1138, Otorohanga 682, and Kaitieke 600. The population estimated as at Ist April, 1922, was: Taumarunui 1013, Ohura 2802, Kawhia 1098, Waitomo 4880, Otorohanga 3,152, and Kaitieke 3038. The capital value of land and improvements was as follows, the unimproved value of land being in parenthesis:—Taumarunui £576,520 (£485,376), Ohura £l,851,031 (£1,066,650),' Kawhia £953,467 (£548,356), Waitomo £3,377,361 (£2,032,410); Otorohanga £2,065,365 (£l,372,224), Kaitieke £1,163,616 (£658,026). That was the area and population at a grasp. With the present innovation it was their duty to abolish parochialism. It was a national question, and Mr Coates was to be congratulated upon the step lie had taken to establish main highways and better conditions generally. Their work would be felt by future generations. They had the assurance of the Minister that any defect would be brought in line with their suggestions. They wanted to bring their work down to a minimum to find out what were the most essential roads under the Act. He considered it tobe a national question and he would always be willing to work for the benefit of the other districts as well as the one he represented. He hoped there would be no need of a casting vote from the chairman. They would quite rightly consider their own roads, but they must put away parochialism and consider it as a national question. They were not only responsible to their county but to New Zealand. It would be an absolute catastrophe if they were not successful. For the time being they should accept a minimum as to what was necessary. They could, if necessary, always appeal to the board, which would show due respect to their representations. He recognised that, financially, they were not in the best condition, but Rome was not bufit in a day, and if they put the scheme in working order they would have done a great work. (Applause). The chairman remarked that Mr Wilson had shown the right spirit, when he said the question was a national one.

Mr A. W. Babbage endorsed Mr Wilson’s remarks, and stated that the main difficulty at Kawhia was the want of a road to the coast, but they must of course have a general scheme and it was no use at the present juncture to say they wanted certain highways. The old method of control by the county was now beyond them and if the scheme was successful it would be of great national importance. Mr F. Potts said he had great pleasure in being present. As a representative of the old Waitomo and Waipa Counties he knew from experience the difficulty of providingsuitable roads and the difficulty of the system under which they were then working. As far as Olorohanga was concerned, they had not mapped out their roads yet, nor had a meeting been held since they decided to join the Council. Tie thought it a good suggestion to tour the portion of the district they did not know, and, to facilitate this, he would suggest that they hold their meetings at different centres. He was not prepared to vote at the present juncture. As regards finance, under their present heading, they were in the dark as yet, but with the support of other councils he hoped they would be successful. Mr G. A. Stanton said that the advent of motor traffic must be met by arterial roads to hold that traffic. The motors had torn up the roads and much of the money expended by County Councils had been wasted. He had seen an example of this that very morning. He did not know what

j the traffic would do if they- had a • dry season. Local bodies were apt to look at the matter from a point of view of finance, hut he thought that would adjust itself. He would suggest that two sub-committees be ■ set up for the north and south por- | tions of the district, but that could . be thrashed out at the proper time. J Mr Sandison said he was not interested so much in main roads as in the side roads. Their decisions must he unanimous to place before the supreme council, and they must give the main council confidence in them. They had to pay half of the cost and there was no metal in his county, so they needed to be careful what they decided upon.

Mr Stanton said he wished to state Taumarunui’s point of view. As they were aware, certain roads had been declared main highways, but at that time the central portion of the North Island was incomplete, unless they w r ere prepared to" connect several important towns in the King Country, and with this in view they had held a conference in Taumarunui. There they had expressed the importance of grouping the main highways. Though Taihape and other towns were not represented he looked forward to the time when the main highways would connect these towns. Another important point was the connecting up of the National Park. This had not been regarded with so much importance as it should be as the park was used as a health and pleasure resort. The question of finance would, of course, have to be determined, but he wished it to be understood that his, and the adjoining county, looked for that connection. Modern traffic had considerably altered things and they had now not only to look to the railways but to the roads, and as time went on they would use the roads more every day. The Main Highways Council was a move in that direction. Another point was in regard to the control of traffic. Local leaders in the past had been too lax in seeing that everyone paid their share. Very often the traffic took all the life out of these roads, while the owners only paid from £lO to £2O toward its upkeep. This was a ridiculous sum. It was for the Council to decide what license or fee should be charged for lorries using the road. They looked for a highway as far as Te Kuiti in the North and Marton in the South, connecting up the small towns and also the connecting of the park and other roads generally.

Mr Wilson said he did not wish to avoid stating what was wanted. They counted upon having a main road from Auckland to Waitomo and from Te Kuiti to Taumarunui and also a road from Ohura, but he suggested that ony a minimum amount of work, for the first step, should be adopted.

It was resolved that Taumarunui be the headquarters for the time being, but that the first few meetings be held at the various county centres in order that each member might have an opportunity of becoming familiar with the highway district, the next meeting to, be held at Kawhia. Messrs C. K. Wilson and G. A. Stanton and the chairman were appointed an executive.