OHURA AND ITS NEEDS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1935, Page 4

OHURA AND ITS NEEDS

The recent deliberations of the Matiere Chamber of Commerce show not only that the settlers of the Ohura are taking every possible step to place their desires before' the proper authorities, but that these desires are thoroughly justified. The lot of the backblocks districts has in many cases been a long struggle against adversity and handicap, and Ohura is no exception. The fact that the district now has a railway has not by any means disposed of all its problems, and amongst the most important of these, in the eyes of the Matiere people, are the inclusion of the Ohura in the Taranaki postal district, instead of the Hamilton district, as at present, and the completion of the Ohura-Tonga-porutu Road, via Waitaanga. The value of the latter has frequently been stressed in these columns, and no excuse is offered for referring to it again. Ohura’s community of interest lies definitely with Taranaki, and for a host of reasons the completion of the 1 Waitaanga Road is essential to the welfare of the Ohura district. The inclusion of Ohura in the Taranaki postal district may at first sight appear a small matter, but actually it is of considerable importance. According to the Matiere Chamber of Commerce, mails sometimes take as long as four days to go from New Plymouth to Matiere, and a number of cases are on record of goods consigned from New Plymouth to Matiere by rail reaching their destination a day or two before the letters stating that they have been sent, or containing important information relating to the goods forwarded. Some of the residents of Matiere are so dissatisfied with the service, it is stated, that they are seriously considering transferring their business to Auckland rather than put up with the inconvenience of dealing with Taranaki merchants. This is a matter in which it seems that the department has failed to appreciate that under the changed conditions of the past year or two the interests of the Ohura district no longer lie in the Waikato or at Auckland, but in Taranaki. The residents of the district are deserving of every encouragement in their endeavour to obtain the objects for which they are striving.