ACCESS TO HEAD OF LAKE

Southland Times, Issue 23445, 28 February 1938, Page 4

ACCESS TO HEAD OF LAKE

ROAD TO GLENORCHY FROM QUEENSTOWN RENEWED APPLICATION TO GOVERNMENT The necessity for the construction of a road along the shore of Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown to Glenorchy is again to be emphasized to the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) by the Southland Progress League which decided, when it met at Queenstown on Saturday night, to support the renewed application of the Lake County Council. The league will also support the council’s plea for improvements to the road from Kingston to Queenstown. In a letter from the Minister to the league it was stated that the road to Glenorchy had been surveyed but that no estimate of the cost of construction could be given. In a later letter to the County Council the Minister said he could not make a favourable recommendation to the Government at present because of the number of other major roading works being undertaken in the South Island. However, when some of those works were completed he would submit the Glenorchy proposal to the Government for serious consideration. The construction of the road was not only a local consideration; it would provide a national asset, said the chairman of the County Council (Mr L. Lee). The road would give access to 300 settlers who, at present, had only launch service. There had been loss of life attributable directly to the difficulty in getting medical assistance. As a national asset the road would open up some of the finest bush scenery and icefields in New Zealand and would constitute another link in the road to Milford Sound.

For the ratepayers the road was an urgent necessity, Mr Lee said, and for the nation a valuable asset was awaiting development. “The Minister has said that he is waiting for the present works to be finished,” said Mr A. S. McNaught, “and the best thing we can do is just keep on reminding him, especially when those other roads are finished.” The absence of medical assistance at the head of the lake far outweighed even the tourist value of the Haast Pass road, said Mr W. G. Tait, and he moved that the Minister again be told of the urgency of the work, with particular emphasis on the difficulties faced by the settlers when seeking medical advice. The discussion lapsed and the motion was carried. ROAD IMPROVEMENTS The County Council’s plea for improvements to the Kingston-Queens-town road was explained by Mr Lee. “We appreciate the benefits conferred on us by the construction of the road,” he said, “but we feel that in the interests of the public generally and for the safety of the motoring public one or two of the worst parts of the road should be improved. A few of the worst corners could well be straightened, even if it cost a few pounds, shillings and pence.” Much money was being spent, elsewhere in making roads safer, said the chairman, the Mayor of Invercargill (Mr John Miller), and, as on others, work could be done on this road in the interests of safety.

“There will be an accident one day and half a dozen will be killed and then Mr Semple will say it is time something was done,” said Mr McNaught. The league was unanimous in its support of the application.