RANGITAIKI DRAINAGE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 183, 21 November 1941, Page 5

RANGITAIKI DRAINAGE

letter to minister

REPLY AWAITED BY SETTLERS

Land drainage problems* affecting settlers on the Rangitaiki Plains have been outlined in a letter from the Rangitaiki Ratepayers' Association to the Minister of Lands. This is the out come of a recent conference at Thornton between settlers and! Messrs Innis and Taylor, of the Lands Department.

The matter of drafting a suitable letter to the Minister ol' Lands; was deputed by the score of settlers present to a committee comprising Messrs W. A. McC'racken (chairman), Alex McLean, F. W T . Newton and G. G. Lucas (secretary).

It is expected that a reply from the Miinister Avill come to hand shortly, when it may be possible to publish in the BEACON both the letter from tlie Ratepayers' Association and the reply from the Minister, so that settlers can be informed of the position.

Serious Hooding of farm land in the Thornton district during the winter months has been causing grave concern to the Ratepayers' Association. The cause of this flooding is considered to be the unduly high level of the Rangitaiki River near its mouth, resulting from a sandspit impeding the flow of the river out to sea. An attempt by the Lands Department's staff to cut a new outlet through the sandspit in August was unsuccessful. What steps the Minister of Lands is prepared to take to improve the dra'.nage at Thornton remains to be seen. To the settlers with land under water in w.inter and spring the problem is most serious. Speakers at the Thornton meeting gave Messrs Innis and Taylor figures showing how dairy production had been reduced as a consequence of flooding of land that was good pasture a few years ago. A point stressed by settlers in the flooded area is that as they are all engaged in producing milk for the Whakatane cheese factory they deserve all the assistance which the Government can give. If, as seem" certain, there will have to be a lot of Government money spent at the mouth of the Rangitaiki River, then the settlers contend that the Government will be repaid through increased production of cheese. However, such expenditure would also improve the drainage of the whole of the Rangitaiki Plains.