THE PROPOSED PAEROA MANUREWA RAILWAY.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXXI, Issue 4107, 21 April 1920, Page 3

THE PROPOSED PAEROA MANUREWA RAILWAY.

THE "OLD NEW" ROUTE.

SHORTEST BY 12 MILES

In an article on the, Proposed Pae-

roa-Mahurewa Railway the Pukekohe

Times says : "Though the public havi

become familiar with the idea of n

Paeroa-Pokeno railway, this line will

not junction with the Main Trunk at Ppkeno. without opposition, bein-j raised. It is contended by some people that an easy grade could be secured for the East Coast line fi;om Maungatawhii-i to Manurewa, ins'eai of to Pokeno. In 1 t)\p Beginning. When a main, trunk line was first contemplated, in the early•* days, v railway constructing, engineer of some repute in Australasia.-was engaged to find a suitable route for the line, on the East Coast, from Auckland, acrdss the Clevedon-Hunua country to Maungatawhiri and out jnear Pokeno. But it was stipulated, that the line must not cost more than £2000 per mile, which provision effectually strangled the project. This item of history is mentioned merely to show that the; Bast Coast, and not the • West, was in the first instance favoured as the route for'the Main Trunk line. Tlie Argument. I.t has long been contended by Northern people that as the Bast Coast railway is now assured of be-. ing constructed, the best route is tha* from Manurewa across to Clevedon, j thence to Hunua, on to Paparimu, along the rich alluvial flftt known as Happy Valley, round or under a low range of hills to Maungatawhiri, a Jhd thence in an almost straight line to Paeroa. This route, according to the -official maps, would be fifteen miles (Shorter than that to Pokeno, but the champions of the scheme claim twelve miles as the gain, preferring to be on the safe side, avoiding all exaggeration. The line would tap good farming country for practically the whole distance, as well as being of great service in transporting coal from the Hunua Colliery Company's mine, at present merely'in the initial' stages of development, and capable of enormous expansion, there being oh a ■conservative estimate, about two mi! lion .tons of good bard lignite coal, suitable for both steaming and household purposes. Eiiigiiieei'l.Hff Aspect, There are, it is claimed, only two engineering difficulties, to overcome, neither.of which appear to be of the first magnitude. One is that a-via-duct would be required at the junction o£ the Hunui Stream and Wairoa River, and the other that a low range of hills at Maungatawhiri would require to be negotiated, either by finding a suitable grade around the base or tunnelling- through. These, of' course,, are questions for the engineers to settle. '; = An OiM Promise. Mr W. F; Massey as he then wa;|(being in the cold shades of Opposition) happened to visit Hunua many years ago, and, by a happy coincidence, .arrived on the same day that a visit was being paid by the then Minister for Public" Works (Hon. Roderick McKenzie). The railway project was then explained to them by Mr T. J. Lockwpod; (present Hunua Riding member on the Franklin County Council). At first the Ministers merely laughed at the idea, but as Mr Lockwpod logically advance! hi-s reasons for favouring the Manu-rewa-Mauhgat,awhiri route, the Minr isters became serious and attentive, and ultimately promised that the champions of this rfoute would be given an opportunity of stating their case before i.t was actually decided to take the line to Pokeno or any other place. On the strength of this promise the residents of the districts immediately interested intend to insist that a .trial survey be made ,and that the decision must rest on thje merits i of the respective routes.

Since then the matter, though not agitated on continuously, has not been allowed to rest, as the following press report will show:—-

■ 'A large meeting of delegates ha 1* Just been held at Papakura to discuss the unwarrantable delay in making a survey of this route. In November, 1912, a very large deputation (led by Mr C. J. Parr, Mayor of Auckland) presented a petition from 1163 petitioners to .the Prime Minister and the Minister for Railway^, asking for a survey, and this was in effect promised. The delegates spoke warmly in criticising the policy by which the settlers are left in a state of uncertainty. It was emphasised ,that, i? there is ,a genuine desire to shorten the East Coast line, this route >s shorter by twelve) miles than any other; and, at the si!me time, servo the requirements of many hundred of present settlers', and thousands i,? prospective ones. The meeting appointed Mr C: Munro and Mr T. J. Lockwood as deputation to Wellington to lay the whole business before

the Hon. W. "Fraser, Minister for Public Works.'

A strong argument in favour of the line is that it would greatly relieve the pressure on the present main line and st,ave off the evil day when a very heavy expenditure must be incurred in. duplicating the line from Auckland to Mercer.

The champions of this old yet new proposed route arei quite confident that, given a fair and impartial investigation, the line will be brought on fronrMaungatawhiri to Manuwera by the route outlined in this article. It is Submitted that, with a grade which would be a good one practically right through, a saving of twelve miles of construction—which in money terms means at least £120,----000, would be effected, and a saving of. twelve miles of haulage and maintenance for all time. These are advanced as unanswerable arguments in favour of the line coming to M'anu-

rewa."