USE OF RAILCARS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27346, 23 March 1950, Page 8

USE OF RAILCARS

Provision For Central Otago

OPERATION IN TWO YEARS Railcars for the Central Otago service would be provided when they became available in 1952, said the Minister of Railways, Mr Goosman, to a deputation from the Otago Development Council which waited on him yesterday. The Minister was replying to a speaker for the deputatmn who said he understood that the railcars which had been promised for Central Otago would be diverted to the North Island. Housing Development

Mr H. McDowell Smith said that nothing in the way of a major industrial or housing development had been carried out in Otago since the war. First, housing was necessary outside the perimeter of Dunedin’s hills, and land was available on the Taieri. He commended the projects set out in a report by the Development Council to the Minister’s attention, and said that the Dunedin climate was most suitable for industry. In reply, Mr Goosman said that the Government realised that the electric potential was much greater in the South Island than the North. It appeared that it would be some time before adequate power was available in the North Island, and it was hoped that some big industries would come to the south. “The Government wants to open up land for the people to build their own houses, but it also realises that some people are not in a position to do so, and more State houses will be built,” the Mihister said. “We cannot hope to direct people where ..they should live, but we will continue to provide facilities for housing development." Middlemarch Road “The Ministry of Works has no surveyors going to waste. The Taieri County Council is opposed to this route, and the prospects do not look too hopeful, but we will keep it in mind,” said Mr Goosman to Mr Falconer, who urged that a reconnaissance survey of the proposed new route from Dunedin to Middlemarch should be carired out by the Ministry of Works. The Minister, in reply to a request that back country roads should be metalled as far as posisble, said he had every sympathy with the back country farmers, and they could be assured that everything possible would be done to meet them in this respect. Irrigation Along Clutha Pumping stations along the Clutha River for irrigation purposes were being considered by the Ministry of Works, and would be ready in plenty of time if the construction work were started in two or three years, the Minister told the deputation. The stations, he added, would be ready when the Roxburgh Gorge power station was completed. Bridge at Tuapeka Mouth A bridge to cross the Clutha River at Tuapeka Mouth did not stand high in bridge priorities, the Minister said. He would, however, investigate the possibility of a subsidy of £375 for the completion of the plans and specifications for the bridge. He said that he would obtain a report from the Main Highways Board on the possibility of a stretch of the BeaumontTuapeka Mouth road being metalled.