WAIKIEKIE NEEDS.

Northern Advocate, 3 May 1919, Page 2

WAIKIEKIE NEEDS.

PLACED BEFORE THE MINISTER. I URGENCY OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT. PROGRESS OF THE RAILWAY. | As a result of Sir William Eraser's determination to pay an inspection visit to Oakieigh-Waiotera section of the railway between Whangarei and Auckland, the Waikiekie branch of the Farmers' Union decided to invite the Minister to visit their settlement, with the object of placing before him some of he pressing needs of the district. Sir William acceded to the request, and yesterday, accompanied by Messrs Mander and Read, M.P.'s. Mr John Wood, Resident Engineer, the county chairman (Mr J. I R. Melnnes) and others, met the peo- I p] e of Waikiekie in the Town Hall, where it had been arranged to entertain the Minister at lunch and present the deputations. The branch had made arrangements to entertain •'JO guests, but this number was increased by fully GO. Nevertheless, Mrs Pearce and other ladies in charge of th c catering rose to the occasion, and all present had their wants well attended to. The chair was occupied by Mr C. Steadman. president of the branch, and at the conclusion of the lunch he extended a very hearty vote of thanks to the Minister. He

pointed out that it was not the desire

of the settlers to press the Minister for money during the war, but they had asked him to speed up the construction of the railway, and he had acceded to the request. Sir William would have seen that day what their roads were like, and he felt sure would consider the requests they would place before him. For what had been done he heartily thanked the Minister, the engineer(Mr Wood) and his staff. THE MINISTER REPLIES.

In acknowledging the welcome extended to him. Sir William said that it gav e him much pleasure to be present with them that day, and he thanked them warmly for their hospitality. It was pleasing for him to know that his efforts with regard to the line had been appreciated. He had remained firm in his intention — and held that he had been right—to push on the lin e from Oakleigh, and when he got another steam navvy he hoped to have the gap completed. He feltssuer c that h e had followed the right course. He gave the assurance that the line would be pushed on as rapidly as men and money were available. He did not propose to speak about roads, as he supposed that subjects would be dealt with in the deputations. Neither did he propose to give definite promises. He wanted to know their requirements so that the estimates might b e framed. He then knew how to allocate the money at his command. He did not believe in making promises unless he could keep them. MR MANDER. Mr F. Mander referred to the pleasure it gave him to be present. He complimented the Minister on the work which had been done and the fine engineer he had in charge of the line. Real good work had been done at this end, although he had disagreed with th c Minister's methods of construction.' He wanted to see the Waikiekie people able to use the line. At present it led to nowhere. With th e good road which was being made to the railway station they would soon have a satisfactory connection with the outside world. MR REED. Mr Vernon Reed, M.P., said it was not his intention to make speeches outside his own territory, but he thanked them for their hospitality. He recalled the fact that nine years ago he had visited Waikiekie exploring th e railway route. The construction of the railway was just as important to him and his district as to Waikiekie. Only 13 miles of lin e remained to be completed, and it was to see what was being done on that 13 miles that he came out that day. He feltssuer c that the line would be of great benefit to the whole of the North Auckland peninsula. MAIN NORTH ROAD. Mr Cubitt then presented the first petition, and in doing so he expressed great pleasure in the splendid way in which the line had been speeded up. He asked for a grant of £4000 to metal the Main North Road from Moewhare southward. The road was the worst in the whole district. There was only a period of three months of the year during which they could get out of Waikiekie. The road they j wanted improved served a large number of settlers at both ends.

Sir William thought it was a matter for the County Council.

Mr Cubitt said it was useless to apply to the council unless they had the Minister's support. It was one thing to ask the council to do the work and another to find the money. The settlers of Waikiekie were prisoners without this road.

Sir William said the Department never paid the whole cost of metalling. He would get Mr Wood to make up an estimate of the cost, and he would look into it, and hoped to give £ for £ for the work. The local body should send in a written request for the grant, but it was no use asking for the whole cost of any metalling. VALLEY ROAD. Mr Cubitt also raised the question of opening up the Waiotera Valley road, which would b e a great feeder for "the railway. It ran closely to the railway for about five and a half miles, and' the metal could be supplied from the line. Mr Mason, chairman of the Road Board, supported th e request. They wanted a grant of about £2000 to make the line from Tauraroa to the junction station. Sir William said he had gone into the matter that day with the engineer, and he was inclined to think that it was more important than the first request. He thought the line was a good one. He was not askinganyone to pay the cost of formation, but the local body would hav c to pay half cost of all metalling. He was prepared to make the survey and lay off the road and make the necessary proclamations, but the local body would have to pay the compensation if private land had to be taken. If the local body sent in a written request he would give it it earnest consideration, j

Mr Cliff urged that the road should be carried through to the Ararua district, and asked for a trial survey. The line went through, large blocks which could be cut up.

Sr William Fraser replied that the Government would not make roads through large blocks. It was the duty of the owners to make their own roads before cutting up. It was only robbing the public purse. He would get a report on the matter.

THE MAIN TRUNK. Mr Roberts asked that the Wuio-tera-Kerekopuni section of the Main Trunk line b e pushed on. He would like to see a sum placed on the estimates sufficient to complete the line to Omana in two years. The line would traverse a country producing large quantities of stock, and the cattle traffic alone would more than pay interest on the cost of the line. They were pleased to hear the Ministerrefer to the use of another steam navvy, and he hoped that more machinery would be procured to push on construction works.

Mr King supported the request, and urged that work should be pushed on at the Tunnels, so that they would b e ready when the formation was made.

Sir William said that it was a question of labour. He could not take men off the line from Whangarei to Auckland, as he wanted to get the through connection right up to Kaikohe. H e was quite prepared to put more men on th e Omana line when he had them, but he was not going to take them oil' he present line. Before th c Treaty was signed he had 490 Jugoslavs in the North Island, and he was now going to lose a very large number of them. There were more men now employed on the Whangarei line than in any part of the Dominion.

Mr Vernor Reed urged that the Omana tunnel was a big one, and would probably take two years to complete. A separate gang should be put on the tunnel. Sir William Fraser said he was going to stand by the opinion of his en- - gineers. KEAY'S DEVIATION. Mr Heslop asked for a grant of £2000 towards Keay's deviation on the Main North Road. It was an important link in th e main road. Sir William said that it was for the local body to maintain the main roads. It was not for Government to do that work. It was a delusion that local bodies had not to maintain what were distinctly county roads. Cr Hayward (Whangarei County) said that it was an important connection from Whangarei to Mareretu. There was a good grade throughout. Referring to other matters, he thanked the Minister for what had been don c to help them. Sir William said he would have a report prepared on the matter, but he suggested that the local body should make an application to the Minister for what was required. Mr W. Crawford, chairman of the Maungakaramea Board, thanked the Minister for th c work which had been done for them at Tauraroa. H e asked that th e grant of £100 on the estimates for Hayward's ' road be increased to £200, as the settlers were doing work which amounted to £1 for £1. The Minister promised consideration.

Mr Cubitt returned thanks for the hearing given th c deputations, and after Sir William had briefly replied the proceedings concluded.