PROCLAMATION OF WATER RACES BY THE ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2320, 4 January 1890, Page 2

PROCLAMATION OF WATER RACES BY THE ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

N TO THK EDITOK. ; „ Sir,—Will you kindly allow me space in your journal to call, (lie attention of those interested in. the, water races throughout the county to the action of the Council in apply,* - ,ng t« the \ Government tp'tave them " pro* | 'claimed." 'As-1 doubt much whether many I farmers having races through their land understand clearly what this term means, and what would be the result to them should the Council gam their point,* TwiU"veiy shortly ftplaia itt By clause 266 of " The Counties .act, 1886," the definition of a water-race runs thus ::" Water-race means land occupied by any channel, natural or artificial, for the supply of water, proclaimed to be a water-race constructed, by a County Council under this Act, and all branch races taken or made through any private lands for the purpose of supplying water thereto, &c, &c, &c" The following clause 267. goes on to say: " The Governor at the request of any County Council may, by,. proclamation publicly notified and gazetted,-declare any/tfwa? therein,' specified to be a water race," &c, &c And\ fuither on the same clause says: "Every water-race so declared shall from the date of such proclamation vest in the Council together with the right to the water therein, and the, - right to enter upon all lands for any purposes in connection with the water races," &c, &c. I have not quoted either of these clauses in full for fear of taking up too much of your space;, and I will now as briefly as possible point out what I believe will be the result to all owners of land should the, County Council succeed in getting thit proclamation. Clearly then, unde" the above definition water-race means the " land " and not the race itself, and when proclaimed "it will"' " vest" in the ' Council, or in other words they, will enter oa the fee simple without more ado, and witluxtt any compensation to the owker whatever. The width of land proposed by them to be thus I confiscated appears to vary from ,15 to 50 links, and so far as I know covers all the races from Pudding Hill down thionghout then: entire length. This is briefly what the Council are trying to do, and against which Mr Wright protested some weeks since. I cannot believe that the clause (267) quoted above could ever have been intended to be uSed for such a purpose as the present one; and if the .' Council at any time -think it necessary to take private land for public purposes they can always do sO in the manner prescribed by the " Public Works Act, 1882," which duly provides for compensation, I myself with others .have: taken steps to oppose this proclamation as arbitrary, and, as I think, . quite unnecessary.^ No public notice of the } intention of the Council so far as I am aware ■ has ever been given, Mid I believe that v«ry * few people in the County know what is pro* posed to be done with a considerable extent of their property. „ The. action of the Council has been somewhat behind our backs so to speak, and I trust this, may open the eyes of not a few to what has been going on before it is too late. Thanking you for the insertion of this letter, i, -„ Jam, etc., .„, ' "v ' * v"'>l' Edward Chapman, Drtytoß, Mjethven,