Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 - 1954), Tuesday 30 January 1923, page 3


Hoads to Grampians ACTIQN AT HAMILTON. AiN ASSOCIATION FORMED. Ali enthusiastic meeting was held- at the Hamilton Town Hall on .Wednesday hight. The Mayor (Cr.; J. G. Stcwart)' i,;presided. He, said it, was' time steps werde takon to urge the claims of the distriCt to be included in nationial road schemes, and especially ,too pro.raote te opening up, of th!i GranFpiansi IRaiges from the southern end. Hi .culd on, Mr. Armitage, an officer of the ' ational Roads Asseei-tioi, tPo address theo' meeting. Mr. Armitage said the objects of the National Roads Association were 6o unite all road users in a big body ,ot ake up the advocacy. of better roads, to u'ge the Federal Governmeht to contribute towards the cost of national Sdlghnwavs, and to press the State Govi'd.t neat to give greater assistance to :unicipalities. At present 40 per cent. of municipal revenues were required for main roads, and such a large proporLion could not be devoted to the purSpose if municipalities were to do justice to the by-ways required by their ratepayers. They were consequently. urging the Government to take over seven main roads altogether. All the mncmbers of the executive of the National. Roads Association were working in an honorary capacity, stimulated by the patriotic belief that good roads .?wouild do more for immigration, land 'settlement, and the making of prosper?it tharn anything else. The opening up of tourist resorts also occupied their attention, and this served a dual purpose, as the making of these roads opened up country for settlement and enabled those who took up the lands to get their produce to market. Among the tourist roads occupying their attention, none appealed to them more than that through the Grampians zranges. The Stawell people had shown great enthusiasm at their end in re,ard to this road, which it was now desired should be made right through hec mountains. Such a road would pro-vide thirty miles of the finest moun"tain scenery. in Australia, and would provide a most attractive route for northern people to travel to the seaside, and for people of the Western district and tourists geueraly, to make trips north'ward. Stawell had already had £10,000 allotted to them to make the road to the Borough Huts, and it was desired that it should be continued from there to the Wannon Valley. There were two routes by which this could be done, one coming out on the east side of Dunkeld and one running from the Huts to Mirranatwa. It was imnumaterial to the associatioin which route was chosen. That to the east had been first suggested, but it was not tlhln known that by making connection with Mirranatwa, only about thirteen miles of road would have to be built. Money was to be provided for these tourist roads, and Hamilton should put in a claim for its share, especially as the route would open up an area of mountain country that was unsurpassed in the State. Mr. Silherlerg. asked how it was propoised to maintain these roads after construction, and Mr. Armitage said thait would be undertaken by the tourist committee.In In reply to Mr. Middleton, Mr. Arimitage said the road through the mountrains would reduce the distance to Stawell by about 60 miles, as compared with going around'bhy Ararat. -M:tr. later, 1.L.A.. said at Dunkeid there was a strong feeling that the reoad should be constructed through N1irranautw:. as there was a good road lhat far already- from I)unkeld, whe;reas *going thie eastern route would entail a great milenge to be constructed. Mr. Armnitage said Horsham had

been allotted £300 to be spent.on making the road from Horsham to Wartook, and there was now a movement to extend the road from Wartook to Hallis Gap. After some informal discussion, the Mayor moved that, a branch of the 'atiqnali Koads Association ' e 'formed, This,was seconded by Mr. E. C. Cameron, andnca.rtied..'Thb .'Thb ma-yor .for the time being was then 'appointed president of: the: branch, with tle president of the. Dundas.hire, the Hon; EJ L''WhitC , ML.C., and:Mr. T. F. O'Neill as 'vice-presidents"; Mr. T. P. O'Neill 'was elected' on. secretary. Mr. Slater moved that steps be taken to secure.a portion of the Government grant to tourjs coiiunittees for opelting up a .road. fr.m Hiall's Gap, and L'orough Huts to Dunkl.ld.--Scco:ulcd by Mr. Waters and mcrried. The ?)M?or moved that the Xati-:?ali Roads Association be requested to apply for the necessary sum to complete the formation of the road from Boroi!gh Huts to Mirranatwa.-Secondqd by -Mr. O'Neill- and carried. FILMS OF BEAUTY SPOTS. Mr. Armitage said it had been found one of. the, most successful means of popularising the making of good roads was by getting the peopleto.coeic out and see. the beauty spots of the country. That had had a splendid influence, and the way to get the people out was to let thcun know where the beauty spots were. This could be done by means of picture films. Mr Gibson, of Amalgamated Pictures, had undertnkeun to hlmye .made and displayed weekly, lilmns of the kind suggested. The cost of providing the films was one shilling a foot. Films had been taken at Stawell and Warrnambool, and the cost was defrayed by production in each case.. One showing at Stawell paid for the lilm. all but £5, and the mayor put his hand in his pocket and gave that. A film showing the southern end.of the Grampians and beauty spots in this district would be very attractive, and he urged Hamilton to take this matter up. [Mr O'Neill moved that the National Roads Association be requested to secure film-s of beauty spots, and that the Back to Hamilton executive committee be asked to arrange to have the pictures shown during the week's celebrations. A splendid opportunity was offered to bring the town and district under notice, and it should be embraced at I once.-Seconded by Mr. Silberberg and carried. COLORED ROAD TRAILS. Mr. Armitage said another movement the association had already in hand was the scheme of colored road trails. They proposed to mark the whole of the main roads in the State. This system had been found much better than sign posts, and had been widely adopted in other countries.' In addition to the main roads, tourist routes could also be marked, which would popularise travelling through the districts. Mr. O'Neill moved that the proposal to publish road guides for, Hamilton and district be endorsed and that the Mayor and Messrs Beggs and Silberberg be appointed a committee to draw up routes for tourists maps.--Carried. A vote of thanks to Mr. Armitage for his attendance and for the interest of the National Roads Association, was moved by "Mr. Begg., seconded by the Mayor, and carried by acclamation. --amilton Spectator. ...