Breadless Kawakawa; And Milkless Russell

Northern Advocate, 13 October 1949, Page 4

Breadless Kawakawa; And Milkless Russell

HOLIDAY PROSPECTS . ■ ■

KAWAKAWA, Thu. (Sp.).—Two Northland townships may find themselves shortly without vital food commodities, Kawakawa’s only bakehouse may not be permitted to be used in its present condition, while Russell’s sole milk supplier may shortly go out of business. In each case, the crisis will take place next month or, at the latest, before Christmas.

The Russell town authorities are viewing the prospects of a milklcss holiday season, when thousands of visitors will be flocking in, with considerable trepidation. Mr Kempthorne. who at present provides the town supply, takes his milk out from his farm at Manawaora Bay through a right-of-way across a neighbouring farm. For various reasons, this has now been closed.

are unfit to be used for any class of food preparation.

However, a “paper road” exists which would give him access. Although grants have been sought for construction of this road by the Bay of Islands County Council in the past, nothing has eventuated and the road is still purely a surveyor’s pencil line on a blueprint. Mr Kempthorne has intimated that he will cease production of milk for the Russell town supply on December 17.

SEEK URGENT £IOOO GRANT With this in mind, the Russell Town Board sent a deputation to the Bay of Islands County Council yesterday to point out that there was no prospect of any alternative supply and to ask that fresh and urgent measures be taken towards providing actual road access. Councillors realised that the great numbers of visitors coming to Russell during the holiday months by train and launch, by car and bus, by keeler and “mullety”, not to mention the permanent residents, would demand fresh milk daily. “It is unthinkable that Russell should

He reminded that a two-year extension had been given late in 1947. He named November 30 as the time limit and warned that renewal of the baker’s annual licence would depend on whether the work of erection of a new bake-house had been started. CONTROLLER’S VIEW The county clerk (Mr J. L. Rayner) said he understood that the proprietor had applied for a permit from the Building Controller to build a new bakehouse and two shops. The controller had been willing to permit a bakehouse to be built, but not the two shops. Mr Rayner himself had pointed out to the controller during the latter’s visit to Northland that the baker would need a shop to sell his own products, and the controller had then agreed to allow a permit for the bakehouse and one shop.

“It is unthinkable that Russell should be without milk,” commented the county chairman (Cr H. T. Atkinson). <

Accordingly, it was resolved to make an “extraordinary and urgent” application to the Government for an immediate free grant of £IOOO to provide roading over two miles of the surveyed line. BAKER GIVEN TIME LIMIT

Kawakawa’s citizens are not yet as alert to their peril of breadlessness as the Russell people are to their possible milklessness.

The Bay County Council yesterday received a copy of a letter sent by its sanitary inspector (Mr H. A. Brugh, of Kawakawa) to the proprietor of the town bakery.

Mr Brugh stated that the premises—which date from many years back—

However, it appeared that the proprietor was not willing to delete even one shop from his plans. The council considered it could do nothing at this stage and the matter rested there.