LAKES DISTRICT

Southland Times, Issue 22156, 26 October 1933, Page 8

LAKES DISTRICT

SERVICE BY ROAD KINGSTON TO QUEENSTOWN BRIGHT PROSPECTS OF COMPLETION (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, October 25. After the numerous disappointments in recent years it is now considered that there is a good chance of the road from Queenstown to Kingston being completed and Southland and Otago members of Parliament are busy preparing a good case regarding the necessity for the work for submission to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Works. This morning Messrs W. Grieve and C. B. Tapley waited on several of the members interested to stress the fact that one of the main objections to the road—that of the Lakes County Coun-cil-had now been withdrawn. . In the course of an interview between these two and the members it was stated that the Railways Board did not desire to renew the steamers on Lake Wakatipu so that there was little likelihood of objections to the road coming from that quarter. Mr A. E. Ansell said that the motorists of Otago were in favour of the road, and motorists’ organizations throughout the Dominion were prepared to support its completion. Mr P. A. de la Perrelle said that the Minister of Public Works had said that the work was not sufficiently important to justify the expenditure at the present time, but he was sure that they would be able to satisfy the departments concerned that the money required would be well spent if it were only for the purpose of securing some return for money already expended. Quite apart from that, however, the road was a most important one to settlers in the Lakes district and from a tourist point of view. He considered that it would be a better type of work for the unemployed than many of the works at present being carried out and he was sure that Southland members were justified in being optimistic about the resumption of work on the road in the near future. It is understood that Messrs Perrelle, Hargest, Bodkin and Ansell will wait on the Prime Minister and the Hon. J. Bitchener at an early date.