Possible Formation Of Catchment Board For Bay Of Plenty

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 92, 24 October 1947, Page 5

Possible Formation Of Catchment Board For Bay Of Plenty

Having raised the question of catchment boards when the House of Representatives was considering the Estimates Mr W. Sullivan, Member for Bay of Plenty, said that in his own area a board had not yet been formed, but the local bodies in the disti’ict were holding a conference shortly and it was possible they might come to some agreement with the department’s officers. Local bodies were reluctant to move in the matter because they were afraid their rating load might become too great.

"There were three or four rivers in his district which presented a difficult problem, particularly the Rangitaiki River. The problem of that river would have to be determined by the ratepayers of the Rangitaiki Plains Drainage area and the new catchment board. He had done his best to try to get the people to come to an early decision because he realised the necessity of having a scheme of control inaugurated in respect of the rivers concerned. Some governing authority in control of all the rivers was required. The set-up of the boards was good,' and they would have the best engineering advice, but the problem would be how they would get on for machinery to carry out the work as the vote for the year was almost £130,000 in excess of the amount spent last year—£27o,B64.