NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 46, 19 September 1918, Page 3

NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR

KOHURATAK'I'S SUPPORT.

. At the Kohuratahi Hall yesterday afternoon, there was an attendance of about..fifty to hear the New Plymouth Harbour Board representatives' addresses outlining, the proposed development scheme. Messrs Newton King (chairman) and Mr J. McCluggage represented the Board.

W. A. McCutfhjin was voted to the* chair. In 'referring to the object of the meeting, ho said that the newspaper reports of the meetings elsewhere had heen followed very closely. He thought all the settled were greatly interested in anything likely to be of benefit to the district and to advance their welfare. It was unnecessary to introduce the gentlemen present. He had much pleasure in asking' Mr King to speak. Mr King said he had to apologise for the absence of Mr Wilkinson, who was unable to come. He had been very busy on account of the death of the member for parliament who, with Mr was acting for Captain .Hi rift.' The Board's Engineer, Mr Blair Mason, was also unable to attend, as he had to go to Auckland, •hut they had brought his plan b> which they would endeavour to explain the proposals; The meeting had been called to explain the position generally. When the Harbour Empowering Bill of 1908 was carried through, arrangements were made that the No. 3 area settlers should [ he exempt from future loans that I might h e found necessary to raise. I Since then, however, circumstances ! had altered very much and "the Board had heen asked by hundreds of settlers in No; 3 Area to provide a Bill for further extension. This.occurred soon after the first liners arrived, and had been going on ever since. The Board, after careful deliberation, decided to draft a bill and submit it! for the approval of No. 3 Area. The Board was devoting most attention to No. 3, because by the clause of the last Bill the Area was to be left out. The. control' lay entirely with the ratepayers pi the area because if No. 3 voted against the scheme, it would bo stopped, even if numbers 1 and 2 voted almost in entirety for it. , The provisions of the hill were very simple. It was to give the Bqard power to enable them to go to the people and ask that a poll bo taken on the question of borrowing an amount equal to £300,000. The money .would not he borrowed in England b\it would be obtained in the J>omir. ; ' the rate of about £30,I 000 or £IO,OOO per year as necessary, j The interest was limited to 5£ per l cent, and half per cent sinki ins fund. The same clause

that was in the Empowering Bill,' of 1908 would -he inserted in the coming Bill, aH if the proposal was carried, ratepay-rs of No. 3 ■■would ho exempted from future loans ''unless they choose to come in again. The voting ■would he on the county franchise which gaV" ft maximum of three votes

to bneVsralopayer. The rates would be

No. 1, New Plymouth and surrounding district. 0; No'. 2, including Stratford, id; No. 3, Kohuratahi up to the Ohura and down to Waimate, id. Tile financial position at the present time Was" that the Harbour Working account showed a profit of £'.2,000 a year. It would have been more last year had not a great deal of the produce been held up, the-but-ter arid meat, stores being 'full; as everyone knew. If the loan was carried, the expenditure would be gone oh with as might seem necessary. The Board were anxious, naturally, to get some of the work done, but it would be six to eight months before the loan could be raised owing to the | various formalities to be gone through. If the loan was carried, £here would be. no rate payable on the old loar, but if the loan were turned down there would be a small

rate t" pay. It would be only a small one, hut arose from the fact that the Board hr.l been taking a portion of the profit-; from', the Worlditg Account to pay some of the interest; and they intended to do so in the future, but if the loan was rejected the whole of the profits would go

to pay dredge expenses, which were 'fairly heavy. Some of the extensions necessary would bo done, but would take longer and they would not be able to transfer the £3,000, which was done last year, to the In-" tercsfc Account. He estimated that the deficiency would be about £4600. Ten years ago the shipping conipan. ie,> agreed to send their boats in, provided there Was sufficient cargo, one thousand tons being the quantity stipulated. It could bo either imports or exports. It was not until the Co-operative Meat Company commenced operations, however, that they were able to offer any exports. Im-j mediately the cargo was offering, the companies sent their representatives to New Plymouth, approved of what had been done, and kept to their promise. Six liners had called at the port. These were of the two smallest sizes, and they could not get tho biggest ships in till a certain amount 1 of extension work was done to the. breakwater and more shelter Was provide:!. The breakwater would bo extended 800 feet. Almost the Whole of the dredging was done, and there was plenty of water. At present the port was not an all-weather port.j Liners must keep their time table,) and it would be no use coming to! New Plymouth if they could not on-? ter the Por!: or could not stay there when they did get in.' The .smaller boats of five thousand and six thousand tons were few and far between. Many had been sunk and were not replaced. Steamers of about. ll ) . r > r/ ) tons were being constructed for tbo Colonial trade, so that ratepayer?

would ;<eo the reee-suity for the work at iilie Harbour being done.' Farmers Knew what a saviiig there was in get-? ting anything direct from duo country to another. The saving here (as lie had already stated) was 15s per ton. Referring to the statements of "Pro Bono Publico" and "Cocky" in correspondence appearing in the "Stratford Evening Post," Mr King said the letters had not been replied to and were probably not worth it. He v did not think tlint one was written by a "cocky," but was of opinion they were both written by the same man, and he had a very shrewd suspicion as to who that man was. Tf he would only come out and sign his. name, and put £IOO down to so to any charitable institution, they would be very ready t 0 tackle him. The saving on basic slag was 15s per ton on pre-war figures, and would be a great deal more now. The saving on salt, s lag, and benzine, directly imported would be more than sufficient to pay the interest on the loan, without going into the question of other importations. Nearly all settlers would be interested in the Meat com-

pany, and would know what it was . to iiave a port at their very doors. J Freezing works in New Zealand bat. \ to rail their produce' to ports over distances varying from 20 to 100 miles, but Moturoa was within five mileg of the Taranaki works. H 0 believed that when all machinery was installed, they would be one of the best. payable works in New Zealand, from the fact that there would be no expense for shipments except a trifle from there to the break-water; The speaker quoted figures in connection with the valuations and rates, but stated that so far a» the latter were concerned he did not think that if the new loan was carried, there was the slightest chance of a rate being struck. It was, of course, difficult to \foretell, but the rate of id w«is so very small that if the settlers were rated for the whole amount the charge would be £1 i-4s 8d on a £2OOO valuation. .

Explaining the proposals with the aid of the. enlarged plan, Mr King said he believed their Engineer was the most eminent-marine engineer in Australasia, and they were fortunate in obtaining his services. He would be a. resident in New Plymouth. He had completed the plan so that buildings or work on the harbour would not be so placed that they ,would have to be removed in the future, but so that they would be carried cut ill order to conform .with th e completed plan. The scheme had created an immense amount of interest outside Taranaki, and When completed the wharf accommodation would be equal to that of Wellington at the present time. There was as good water'in the harbour as any in New Zealand. The Engineer based his estimated jon the future size of steamers on the size of the Panama Canal, and the same idea was being adopted in England to-day. The Chairman apologised for Mr «McCluggage who would not be able to speak on account of suffering from an attack of influenza, and a relaxed throat. A« one of the original settlers, however, they.were pleased to have him present. Mr McCutchan stated that the Harbour Board desired that the fullest information should be given, and invited criticism. Full information was available and in his address Mr King had been absolutely fair, having dealt with facts.

Mr A. Coxhead inquired how the rubble wall was going to stand on the shifting sand. Wairo a Harbour was built on the same principle, and had turned out a failure.

Mr King said the Engineer was at Now Plymouth for a considerable time and thoroughly inspected the whole matter. Mr McCluggage pointed out that Wairoa was a river Harbour. Mj- King said ithat no doubt those present had read the papers and seen that the Board had met with adverse criticism at the southern end, but there was no criticism whatever adverse to the plan of the Harbour, oven the bitterest opponents Had to admit the scheme was a good one. They had put up buildings at Patea and wanted to know what would they do with them, "but the Board locked at the matter from the point that Tar-

anaki must have a deep-sea port, and the sooner, the province was linked up with the outside, the better for all of them. Goods would be landed in a cheaper and better condition. In reply to Mr A. Coxhead as to Harbour dues, the speaker said that at vVaitara the exporter shipped into direct and that was the only reason they could ship at VVaitara cheaper than at New Plymouth. Consignments could be removed from the Waitara wharf and shipped over the breakwater cheaper than at VVai-

tara. The Board intended to have shods and plant for dumping wool, but up to the present had devoted ail the finance to construction work.

Mr Coxheud inquired if the Harbom dues would more than eat up the cost of loading by lighter. Mr King said the Harbour duos on ocean." liners were very low. A harbour in the making had to get ships in, and therefore tho price was a& low as possible. The companies wanted to come to New Plymouth and he did not think they would have their vessels loaded &\, an open road-stead when a port was available within ten miles.

Questions by others present were also replied tt>. Mr M. Geever moved:—That this meeting or' rate-payers of Whangamo. inona district in No. 3 area, New Plyoutli Harbour district, having heard the addresses of members of the New Plymouth Harbour Board in connection with the proposed further development of the Port, endorses the propo3a|3j and expresses fclie- dpiiiioa

thai, an early undci taking of the necessary works is of foremost importance to the welfare of the pro- : vinee. ~.• j Mr A. Coxhcad protested it was iu;t fair to put the motion to the meeting. It would be far better to giye ratepayers time to thoroughly digest the scheme before voting on it. if they voted i'oi it that day, they would not. enre to turn it down later. The Chairman said the matter was no new one. Members of the iJoard had been travelling round the district and had devoted their chief attention to the most, hostile district, No. 3 area, where there were vested interest.. Ail the papers had' been pubhV '-'tig reports of the meetings, and s'nilar resolutions had been carried elsewhere. They were not binding on aTiyone, but it was a good thing to get a 'general indication from the rating area of what public opinion was. The objection raised might appeal to a few, but to the great majority it would recommend itself as the best course to pursue. " The resolution was seconded by Mr W. Gleeson, put to the meeting, and .carried without dissent. j The meeting dispersed after passing votes of thanks to the Board j members and the Chairman.