OTAGO EXPANSION LEAGUE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21147, 3 October 1930, Page 2

OTAGO EXPANSION LEAGUE.

MEETING OF EXECUTIVE. A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Otago Expansion League was held on Tuesday evening. Mr 6. J. Errihgton (president) was in the chair. The members present were Messrs C. H. Hayward, G- w. C. Macdonald, E. Tamblyn, Ivor Carr, W. J. Winefield, F; Reid, A. Smiley, and J. Inglis Wright. An invitation from the Otago Officers’ Club to attend a lecture on Thursday evening was accepted. The £*ecretarv reported the result of his visit to Wellingtoa.and the interview with the Minister of Railways in connection with the Sunday services on the Port Chalmers line. A detailed reply to the points raised by the league on behalf of the harbour-side communities had been promised by the Minister at an early date. Correspondence in regard to the regional town _ planning from Dunedin City Corporation was read, together with a letter from the Chamber of Commerce. In this connection, members expressed themselves as strongly opposed to the partition of the historic province of Otago in the manner proposed by the director of town planning, contending that portions of the country which have been so long associated with the province should remain under new dispensation. Regret was ™£f e !l ed . by members at the failure to meet the chiefly interested local bodies at was voiced that a determined effort would still t 0 remedy that mistake, and bring the new boundary into keeping with «LW lKi n al °? e * ac «on of the president was endorsed heartily by the meetquestion of the Melbourne steamer service came up in connection with correspondenco from the Southland League wbo i*°*t l J Ir /’ M ’ ? ißher > ot Hobart, Island Itnf e . ndeavoar,n if to interest the ln servloe - Hopes were of \hi PVdlr S °i m M that the clause vLtn i al ?. avi ßation Act, which proir e “,to d the calling of the steamer at Hobar„ might be removed to the general benefit, but. unfortunately, this has not “fen secured. Mr Fisher, however, is +l.l nfc j that .continuous petitions will ,nd nt k reßul - '? ? hotter understanding, and the reinstatement of a service Tasmania beneficial to New Zealand and A few weeks ago the league forwarded a ,. BU SP eat ion from the Mayor of Dunedm in regard to the entrance to the new Post Office, and a detailed reply from the Minister of Public Works (Mr W. B. Taverner) was read to the meeting. Mr Taverner pointed out that from the architectural point of view it would be preferable to retain the main entrance in the centre of the Princes street frontr£ B’f 8 ’ f tbat ioyout required by the frosti Omcei could not be advantageously created if the mam entrance were at the corner of Liverpool street. Under the cimfmstances, he regretted that the suegestion <>£■ his Worship cannot be given practical effect to. Jotter from the Port Chalmers Borough _ Council, regarding the wharf charges imposed by the Otago Harbour Board, was considered, along with the statement received from the Otago Earhour Board on the same subject--After lull consideration the league decided that a matter of such importance to the two bodies could best bo overcome by a joint meeting of representatives, of the two bodies when the details inseparable from be and the differences between them adjusted* , / b . e question of the date when the electrical energy will be available from the Waitaki power station was mentioned by the president in connection with a report from Canterbury, which is at the present moment from short supply fWpvhnr Lake Co f rid S e powerhouse. Uanterbury representatives urge that further effort should be made to speed «p the work on the river station so that another source 0 f power may be avail+iSouth p a "terbury and North Utago in the event of a recurrence of thn trouble at Lake Coleridge.™ Wdin city is now interested in the Waitaki source as well as the northern section i j .P ta W. Power Board, it was resolved to write the Minister calling his nri^! l^ 1011 to t J lese acts an d asking for “nstallatffin!. 0£ SPeßd ia . complctinß th 9 Ihe question of the restoration of the roads on the West Coast, damaged bv earthquake, was discussed, and the comnuttee felt that an injustice was hein%T% atcd o£ f . tbe South Island, 8 see£| that the available money for the reinstatement of these roads was being drawn from the highways fund. In the case of a ” atl g na } disaster of this magnitude, the cost should to. a great extent, be borne by the whole Dominion, and it was not vn*SA° e / tam +i tllat an .y. money would be l , the conaohdated fund for this purpose. The heavy drain upon the highly funds would leave a smaller W r / or . road !? g improvement iu would I ? lan , d> . and x ttl e consequence \\ould be that subsidies to counties would bv g trtj educed r an sf the a ™urit given fund would be disproportionate to the heavy taxation imposed .upon motorists for that purpose" ' ./he sympathies of the league, are decidedly with the local bodies and the motonsts, and they will gladly co-operate in whatever action is deemed essential to restore the balance. The question of the reinstatement of the Niger Hut had already been before the league, who have made representations to the Minister in that direction, and, the secretary reported that he had interviewed Mr CUnkard. the S ral J] a ™ e % r T7°,l thc Tonris t Department, while in Wellington.- Unfortunately there is no.money available this session for the Purpose indicated, but hopes aro entertained that next year a grant will be memw e ’ f T u! offer of the members of the Tramping Club to transport the material and erect the hut free ° f .„ c / a . rße *? * ho Government was corametded, and the Minister will be again asked favourably to consider this when preparing , his Estimates for next year. ,;^ e J eagUe 18 convinced that the opening up ox the magnificent and almost unknown scenic charms of the Aspiring district will be greatly benefited by the erection of this but. and eventually, that a track of unwonted charm could he opened up via this route and Loch Negar into the Upper Dart Valley, thus adding another charmsafes”t? *“ “ isu "“ “