Ngawha Springs Road

Northland Age, Volume 1, Issue 10, 11 December 1931, Page 1

Ngawha Springs Road

Council and Company

Since the shutting down of Mercury Works, Ngawha, near Kaikohe, the road to the works and to the Springs has been closed with a padlocked gate and a warning that trespassers v/ill be prosecuted. As the old rough road to the Springs has fallen to pieces—part indeed is fenced off—the public are now excluded from the Springs unless they choose to trespass on private property.

The Kaikohe Development Company, which spent £2312 in forming and metalling the road, now is offering to dedicate it on condition that the Bay County Council pays them £IOOO, at the rate of £IOO yearly. If the Council takes the road over, it will, of course, have to maintain it. The history of the road dates back to 1928, when the Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., after an examination of the property that lasted over three months, acquired the land back from the Ohaeawai road to the Springs, from Mr. T. C. Kerry, of London. As far back as 1917 a road had been surveyed by the Government for the purpose of opening up Crown lands in the Parahirahi Block, but no attempt was made to form the road. The Company applied to the Public Works Department to have the road gone on with, and to the County Council to give them access to their property. The Public Works Department declined, as it was not intended to open the Crown lands, but it thought the Mines Department might be interested, but it was not. • The County Council pointed out that the Company had half-a-mile of metalled highway fronting their property already, and the fact that it was necessary for the Company to build its works at the other end did not make it obligatory on the Council to form a road to them. Also, the proposed road did not give full access to the Springs, so the Council could give no assistance towards its formation. Then the Company formed the road at its own cost, closing the entrance by a gate and allowed the public to use it only on suffrance. Still the public did use it to gain access to the Springs,

and found it a great convenience, even if it landed them a little distance away from their objective. In July, 1929, the Council wrote to the Company asking if they were willing to dedicate the road, and the Company replied they were perfectly willing—if they were reimbursed for the £2312 10/2 it had cost them. The Council wrote to the Lands Department, but the Lands Department were not interested, and the Council hadn’t the money or the inclination to pay for the road. An application from the Company for a subsidy was declined, as money could not be spent on undedicated roads. In the beginning of 1930, a deputation from the Bay Council, with Mr. Goodwin, the Company’s Manager, waited on Mr. E. R. Ransom, the Minister of Public Works, during a visit to Kawakawa, to get some assistance in taking over the road. After considering the matter for a couple of months, the Minister replied that as no settlement was affected by the road no assistance could be given, adding the rather surprising remark “that the Springs themselves are not of any great interest to the general public.” Last July the Company’s manager wrote to the County Council pointing out that people were coming from great distances to the Ngawha Springs, that a considerable number of huts had been erected both on the Native and Crown lands and in view of the increased public use of the road the Company would like an offer so that the dedication of the road might be considered. In reply the Council regretted it was not in a position to make any offer. It fully recognised the value of the Springs and the road access to thefn, but that was a national rather than a local matter, and the Government had always turned a deaf ear to repeated requests for assistance. The Company then made its offer to dedicate on payment of a thousand pounds on terms, and the matter is to be considered by the Bay of Islands County Council. There the matter at present rests.