Northland Age The Voice of the Far North

Northland Age, Volume XX, Issue 10, 10 November 1950, Page 3

Northland Age The Voice of the Far North

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1950 ' ' DEVELOPMENT On Tuesday evening next, the Mangonui County Development Committee will once again sit in meeting on matters dealing with the development of the county, and perhaps with special reference to the development of farming lands. It is to be hoped that their deliberations will not hold them on this subject, for the ramifications of development are far too many to particularise, and in the doing perhaps defeat the ends sought by the residents of this fair northern tip of New Zealand. Perhaps their first objective should be to join in with the Mangonui County Council, and maybe the Kaitaia Chamber of Commerce, on the matter of better roading within the county, paying special attention to the arterial roads in and out of the county. Too much has been said of our isolation here, an impression created doubtlessly from the fringe of the Mangamuka Ranges cutting our southern boundary, and having the sea on our other sides. In actual fact those ranges which after all are nothing but a chain of hills should present no obstacle to modern engineering skill, and should be looked upon by us as an asset rather than an obstacle to progress—an asset in that they bring us a much needed rainfall, and keep our streams well watered, as well as having in the past brought us prosperity from timber, and which still supply our local needs of that same timber. A railway through this range somewhere would perhaps bring us a measure of relief in transport, and yet, considering the huge initial cost this would entail, would we be justified in asking for such a service. Much discussion has been rife of late relative to a deep water port, and some of our people have been agitating for the opening of the port of Opua, whilst others have advocated that of Whangarei, and there are still others satisfied with the arrangement of Auckland. We must ask ourselves the question : How would this county benefit towards the development of farm lands by the opening of either of these suggested ports? Would it make the trek to Moerewa any shorter? Would the distance to the railhead be any less? Would our transport charges be reduced at all, for that has been a big stumbling block in the development of our county. Almost any man on the land in this county knows of someone who was monied enough to carry out developments, who w'ould have settled here and opened up land had it not been for the necessarily high rates for transport of his products and for his fertilizers and general necessities. Bearing all these things in mind, it is apparent that we must take first things first, and press for the betterment of our arterial roads, and create road transport an easier thing, lessening the wear and tear on road vehicles, and thus lower transport costs. Then as to a port ! Why should we press for a port at Opua or at Whangarei which will serve residents of the southern counties, but which will not benefit us very much? Would it not be better to explore the opening up of our own port, with a view to shipment of our produce from our very doors? Would it not be possible to establish an, at first, small freezing works at Mangonui, and kill and ship direct from there to the Homeland ? It is a possibility which must be investigated. Firstly, there is the matter of the depth of water within the harbour of Mangonui. It is not desired that ships the size of the Dominion Monarch should enter there, but merely refrigerated ships of som e eight to twelve thousand tons, drawing from 22 feet to 26 feet. A glance at the charts of the harbour shows that at low water there is some 27 feet at the wharf, and at the heads there is a matter of 36 feet. All up the channel to the wharf shows depths ranging from 24 feet to 28 feet, and inquiry reveals that the bottom is such that very little dredging would be needed to make the way perfectly safe for ships of the size mentioned. There will be some who will ask what we will put into the ships, and how we would manage to keep the freezing works going once they were built. A few rough figures at this stage will not come amiss to demonstrate how this would come about. The past has shown that the annual sale of cattle in this county is somewhere in the vicinity of 17,000 head. No mean number when looked at coldly. Next we see that there are some 2000 sheep sold here annually, but greater than that is the fact that vve send out something over 6000 fat lambs ! Then we can take the pigs sent out of the county, and when it is levealed that there are something like 12,000 every year, we can justly throw out our chests and point a finger of indication. Lastly by not least, in this matter of livestock, we send out 20,000 calves through a year, and this in itself represents figures which are certainly useful in the advocacy of a killing and freezing works From our dairy companies w e send out over 3000 tons of butter and 500 tons of milk powder from one factory, and about 400 tons of butter from the other. This lattei comes from the output from 27,500 dairy cows within the county, and it can well be seen that with the opening up of land all these figures must of necessity reach much higher proportions. But it would be hopeless to expect the land to be opened up before the port, as it is only th e opening up of transport that will open up the land. Let this Mangonui County Development Committee then consider the aspect of getting something done to entice those here who will take up the land and develop it, and thus make use of the amenities offered them.