THE PROPOSED FRANKTON SALEYARDS.

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13891, 17 October 1918, Page 2

THE PROPOSED FRANKTON SALEYARDS.

(To the Editor.' Sir, —Last Friday night Cr. Snell gravely asked the Borough Council to pass a resolution of warning to the inhabitants of old Frankton, hut the Council —lacking in its sens.- of humour —threw out the motion. Nevertheless, your reporter has come to his assistance, and the dreadful note of warning has gone forth. Now, Cr. Snell wishes to warn us <.f the dangers arising from the driving of stock, etc., Why, sir, w • in Frankton have been fully cognisant of. and have suffered from, this danger for years. He seems to be unaware of the fact that fully 50 per cent, of the slock driven to the Hamilton yards, and all of the stock arriving and leaving by i rail, has to be driven through the main streets of Frankton. Not only have we seen our footpaths ruined, but two or three nights a week have been ' made hideous by the barking of dogs, the shouting of men and the bellowing of cattle at the trucking yard, which is situated within a stone's throw of our main street. Mention has been made ./of the trouble recently caused in Milton street, but this is not to be compared with the sights to be seen weekly in our main street, Lake road, Somerset street, • and Seddon road—often when these streets are full of children going to school. We have been powerless in this matter for years, and it is precisely on these grounds that we have welcomed the Saleyards Company, for we see a possible chance at last of ending what has become an intolerable nuisance in our midst. We realise that the prosperity of this town largely depends upon the farming community;, that saleyards, in, or in the immediate vicinity of the borougn, are essential to its welfare, and that the present Hamilton saleyards must go sooner or later. The problem is, then, to find a site suitable for the purpose—convenient to the centre of the town —where a railway siding can be got, and situated in such a position that little if any of the driving will be through the important streets of the borough. We feel that, go where you will, the site proposed for the Frankton saleyards cannot be bettered. It is, Within ten chains of the borough boundary, it adjoins the railway, and the provision of a siding for trucking purposes is included in the scheme, and it should be noticed that this siding will be on the main line, thus allowing stock to be shipped in any direction, With facility and without, change. 1 can foresee that when once established 50 per cent, of the stock arriving and leaving these yards will come and go by rail directly into and from the yards, and that it will be possible for all loading and unloading to be done in the clay time. For some years the late Frankton Borough Council endeavoured to persuade the railway authorities to shift their present trucking yards to a position adjacent to this very site, and if the saleyards there the railway trucking yard must of necessity follow. What then will be the position as regards driven stock? All stock coming from the Ohaupo, Tuhi -■ karamea anil Whatawhata direction will reach the yard by way of the Rifle Range road, and that from Ngaruawsftna, Te Rapa and Horotiu direction by the Forest Lake road, both of which roads are either on the extreme edge of the borough or just outside, thus entirely freeing the streets in the heart of the borough from driven stock. The' only country not served conveniently is the country east of the river, but even that side will be no worse off than it is at present, for, ss at present, and till a second bridge id Whitiora is an accomplished fact, it will go by way of the bridge up to Lake rood and down Lake road directly to the yards. I can conceive no more suitable site, or one causing less inconvenience to the inhabitants of the borough or to the farmers, than the site proposed here in Frankton, and I feel sure that, if the company pushes ahead and gets going, the Hamilton yards will die a natural death, and the inhabitants both of old Hamilton and old Frankton will bless the day wli-n .this cmpany was formed. Just a

street, wliu 1 am told will resist 1" Hi.- last any proposal lending to the ••Insin'-T nf lti«- | •■• sent Hamilton yards. If this should happen when tin' saleyards art' opened here, 1 d i Hot 1' '- li> vi? these gentlemen will lose, one pound's worth of business, for it is but :i sh«rt run from the proposed yards to Victoria sln-el, where all Liu? hanks and oilices are situated; bul 1 appeal to iiu-iii on higher grounds loan thai i,i' mere lilthy lucre. Surely, they must realise that the present, Hamilt.m yards cannot he allowed to remain much longer, surrounded as they arc iiy schools, and likely to be slill more so in die mar future. J have no brief for lie' Saleyards Company, but 1 rerlainly Inivi a brief for the inhabitants of Greater Hamilton, and for the good of the community as a whole I consider, if my duty to support the proposal of the Frankton Saleyards Company lo the ulmobt of my ability.—l am, etc., .1. E. HERBERT.