MINISTERIAL VISIT

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 62, 24 May 1928, Page 6

MINISTERIAL VISIT

HON McLEOI) IX STEATFORD.

VISIT TO THE MOUNTAIN

AN IMPORTANT DEPUTATION

The Hon. A .D. McLeod, Minister of Lands, arrived in Stratford tins morning and was at once taken for a trip to the Mountain House. It was raining hard at the House, but the party had a look round and after partaking of a cup of tea returned to Stratford.

i A conference of Reform Party | delegates was held at the Parish j Hall, and the Minister lunched at the County (Hotel with a number of local people, j After lunch Mr McLeod received a deputation from the Egmont National Park Board with a request for the reinstatement of the balance of the grant of £3500 for the improvement of the road to the Mountain House. The deputation was headed by Mr Armit, Commissioner of Crown Lands, and deputy-chairman of the Park Board, and other members of the deputation were: Messrs T. R. Anderson (chairman Stratford County Council), J. B. Richards (president Chamber of Commerce), D. J. Maolne (president South Taranaki Automobile Association), P. Thomson (member of the Board), R. Masters (president Progress League), W. L. Kennedy (representing Whangamomona County) and J. C. Robins (chairman of the East Committeel, Of the Park Board). Mr Hugh Baydy, secretary to the Park Board, was also in attendance.

The deputation was introduced shortly by Mr E. Wa'ler, M.P., and Mr Armit was very brief in opening proceedings on behalf of th'j deputation.

The chief speaker wan Mr J. C. Robins, who said Stratford had been very unfortunate 'as regards the grant. In T 920 tenders were called for the work, tatit owing to shortage of men ho tenders were received. came the slump of 1921. A start had been made on the road by the Public Works Dept. but work was suspended owing to the depressed state of the country. Mr Coates,; ithen Minister of Public Works, said the work was not to be abandoned altogether, bufc only suspended owing l to the firiSxnciai clenroHsion. Matters; were at a standstill until in 1921, tinder the new National Parks Act,! committees were appointed for the different districts in Taranaki. The fefisb Committee had a hard proposition, hut with the baflince of £3B handed to them they made a start. Local bodies gave donations totalling £6O, and with this scrub was cut, trees removed, the road patched, and the House re-conditioned. During the past three years £495 had been spent on re-constructing the track. Mr Robins went fully into the work done by the committee and detailed t|he steps taken locally 'to raise further funds. Mr Thomson apologised for the absence of the Mayor (Mr J. W. McMillan), and mentioned that both the Borough Council and County Council had passed resolutions m support of the deputation's request. I n reply, the Minister said he recognised that the whole finance of Park Boards should be placed on a sounder basis. The matter was on e of policy, and the Government had to hear in mind that what was done for the Egmont Board would have to be done for other • Boards. He would consult his colleagues and would recommend that some basis should be found which would enable Park Boards to know exactly 1 how much they might expect" from the Government. He did not- want to see local effort stopped, but 'where flhere was local effort he ' wanted to see a system under which • \ocal people would know exactly what helo they would get from Government*., supl'v---- -r>il efforts. He could not give any promise as regards a straight-out vote, but he could assure the deputation that the ■ movement had his deepest sympathy.