I grew up in Hamilton and the Bay was our playground. It wasn't until I was caught up in the design work for the Apata railway tunnel that I had to study the Western Bay of Plenty's economy and transport problems. At the time, a parallel road tunnel was suggested as the planners rightly believed that the Kaimai hill problem would remain after the railway tunnel was built. The committee also believed that the railway from Waihi to Apata should be retained for a Bay tourist rail network. The planners at that time did have a vision. The Bay of Plenty can't have been awake at the time, and they certainly didn't understand the dream.
Brian Anderson explains his point of view in his column this week, available in full as a blog on the Bay of Plenty's news leading website www.sunlive.co.nz

Brian Anderson