ROAD TO GLENORCHY

Lake County Mail, Issue 15, 3 September 1947, Page 1

ROAD TO GLENORCHY

Vital Link for Settlers

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

About 300 people, comprising one township, are isolateddependent on a steamer service influenced by the vagaries the weather for their means of transportation to the outside world—and yet only 21 miles of road is required to give this community easy egress to hospital, educational and other facilities. The township is Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu, a distance of about 28 miles by road from Queenstown, but about a threehour or more steamer trip under the only present means of transport.

At present a 10-foot road from Queenstown goes seven miles to Closeburn Station. From Closeburn to Glenorchy—a distance of about 21 miles —a bridle track follows the lakeside terraces. No technical difficulties stand in the way of the extension of the road. The present road could be widened fairly simply to the dimensions of a highway. On the required extension the gradients are easy, no timber has to be cleared and bridges of any size would be needed in only two places—the 12-mile and 20-mile creeks. The road is in the Lake County and was recently brought before the public again by the county council in a remit placed before a conference of local bodies and Southland members of .Parliament at Invercargill in June of this year. The council then urged that the road be put through. In December, 1945, the council also placed a remit before the Southland Regional Planning Council asking that the road should be given highest provincial priority. Comparatively recently Cabinet Ministers and the Prime Minister, the Hon. P. Fraser, have visited the area and have had the project explained to them “on the spot.” While sympathetic they have invariably explained that shortage of labour and materials prevented reading work being undertaken in the area meanwhile.

of the doctor by putting out at all. Interviewed recently, a Queenstown doctor, who feels very strongly that the road should be put through without delay, quoted actual examples where life or death for a patient at Glenorchy were dependent on whether the steamer could reach there in time. On one occasion a pregnant woman at Glenorchy fell, had a miscarriage in consequence, and a haemorrage developed. “ That day,” said the doctor, “with every chug of the steamer, that woman’s life was running out. It took three hours to get to Glenorchy. Had I arrived quarter of an hour later the woman would have been dead. As it was it was touch and go.” On another occasion two men employed in the scheelite mines were working with drills, dynamiting on a rockface. They thought all the shots had been exploded, but one was left. The charge went off while they were on the face. One man was killed, said the doctor, but whether or not it was' outright and whether he could have been saved if medical attention could have been given him sooner was difficult to say. The other man, however, had to lie in agony for three hours before the doctor arrived to administer morphia and then he had to be taken back by steamer to Queenstown. On another occasion a call was made to the doctor for a patient with a cerebral haemhorrage. The launch owner refused to take the doctor saying that it was certain death to venture out in the lake because of the weather. By a streak of luck a doctor was staying at Paradise at this time and was able to attend to this patient. Another time a party of youths went climbing on Mount Juda. A boy fell several feet on to a rock ledge, where he remained unconscious. His fellow climbers, with the aid of ropes, managed to rescue him and took him to Glenorchy. No one knew how seriously he was injured. The doctor left Queenstown at 9 p.m. and said he would be there at 12 p.m. In the dark the launchman made a mistake and the launch ran aground off one of the islands. The engine failed and there was nothing to do but wait until assistance came. Fires were lit in the hope that they would be seen ashore. Meanwhile great anxiety was being

Welfare of Community There are several good reasons why this reading project should be undertaken as soon as possible, but the strongest reason—which takes precedence over all others—is simply the welfare of an isolated community. When life and death hang in the balance, nothing absolutely nothing—should be allowed to stand in the way of any scheme to improve such a situation. To describe the present situation as “ a matter of life and death ” may appear far-fetched. It is not. It is a statement of unvarnished fact.

The nearest doctor lives at Queenstown. Should a doctor be required at Glenorchy he may take three hours to make the trip by steamer, he may take a day if the weather is particularly bad, or, as happened on one occasion, the weather may be so bad that the launchman may refuse to risk his own life and the life

experienced at both Queenstown and Glenorchy. Finally at 7 a.m. the launch from Kinloch sighted the stranded launch. On this occasion the youth was not very seriously injured. Had he been, medical aid would have arrived too late. Apart from the fact that patients often have to wait for a period of hours for medical attention, said the doctor,, when serious cases are being brought to Queenstown by launch in bad weather the patient suffers discomfort and there is a definite danger of his condition being aggravated. Educational Difficulties The settlers at Glenorchy also face educational difficulties. Queenstown has a district high school but no hostel, and parents cannot always afford to pay for private lodging. The steamer service had also to be relied on for the transport of goods and mails. The extensive scheelite mining fields are under continuous operation but, it is stated, that further development is greatly hampered by want of road access. The area served comprises 228,000 acres of Crown Land and 800 acres

of freehold land. This land carries 40,000 sheep and 1500 head of cattle. Tourist Value Although the needs of the settlers at Glenorchy are of prime importance, it is considered that the road would have a provincial and national importance, Glenorchy is the gateway to some of the finest tourist country in New Zealand. Both the valleys of the Rees and the Bart present unrivalled attractions for anglers, trampers, and those in search of scenery. The Dart Glacier, known to comparatively few people, is believed by some mountaineers to be the finest in New Zealand. If or when Glenorchy is linked to Queenstown it may later be possible to bridge the Rees and Dart Rivers below Mount Alfred. The l oad could then be extended to Kinloch and from there follow the track which now runs through the Greenstone Valley to Lower Hollyford and the Eglinton. In this way a round trip would be provided for motorists —lnvercargill, Queenstown, Eglinton and back to Invercargill, via Te Anau—a journey which could not be equalled elsewhere in the Dominion. The value of the road when the Homer Tunnel is opened is obvious.