Public Opinion

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 224, 19 September 1944, Page 4

Public Opinion

TRANSPORT IN WANGANUI Sir,—lt is to be hoped a stronger clement of civic enterprise will be shown at the combined meeting of local bodies convened next month for the purpose of considering problems relating to transport than that which was displayed at the Chamber of Commerce meeting recently. If our leading men of commerce take such a limited view in matters concerning transport the outlook for the city cannot be bright. The chamber seeks to perpetuate the very thing—haphazard development (instead of conscious planning)—that has caused so much difficulty in the past. The chamber would settle the railway problem first and find. later, that the service was of little use in a new setup for working coastal and overseas shipping. Then, when an up-to-date aerodrome needed development, the same would not fit in with either. However, Mr. C. P. Brown is to be commended for his efforts to have something done about an up-to-date aerodrome. Three days after the chamber held its meeting an Auckland City Councillor emphasised the need for urgent action to secure nn airfield which would cater for international traffic after the war. He asked that the Mayor, in conjunction with other local bodies, take steps to obtain an early decision re site. The Mayor replied that he had already been in touch with the Government, and the matter was being investigated (see New Zealand Herald of September 8. 1944). Quite recently the Dominion reported that the Palmerston North people were trying hard to get their own airport (though seriously handicapped by adjacent hill) recognised for the same purpose. Furthermore, a Taranaki M.P. has pushed the claims of Bell Block, but. again. New Plymouth is unfortunate in having a natural hazard in Mt. Egmont. While Wanganui can offer the best site between Auckland and Wellington (not the present one), and is in an ideal position itself to handle this traffic, we find the Aero Club, at its annual meeting, inactive and inert, and now the Chamber of Commerce, to all jntents and purposes, acting likewise . . . while the Mayor remains volubly dumb. Cr. Rennie’s warning, and your own. that if we are not careful the city will be bv-nassed again should not go unheeded.—l am, etc.. “LET’S GET BUSY.”