BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1948 BOROUGH FLOOD REPORT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 59, 23 June 1948, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1948 BOROUGH FLOOD REPORT

By now those who took the time to'read through it will have had time fully to digest the comprehensive report on flood damage and flood prevention laid before the Borough Council by the foreman-engineer, Mr W. S. Henderson, and released for publication within the last few days. Actually, though the space it occupied in print made it look rather formidable, the report was one that should have been carefully perused by everyone with the interests of the Borough and its future development at heart. Mr Henderson is to be congratulated on a full, informative and constructive report. That his proposals have been given the approval of the Council and are now being considered, by Public Works engineers should be a matter for general satisfaction for, though the proposals are ambitious, they do offer what looks like the basis of a practical solution of the problem.

Two main difficulties present themselves, assuming the plans are acceptable to the Public Works engineers. Can the catchment areas be acquired for re-afforestation, and who will find the money to implement the schemes outlined? As Mr Henderson himself points out, it is a serious and drastic step to suggest that 40 acres of developed land in the Wairere catchment be taken for tree planting but, as he also says, the circumstances demand drastic measures. Nor will the Eorough be the only beneficiary. Soil erosion in that area is sufficiently serious to be disturbing in itself, and a crop of exotic timber would in time become a valuable asset. Concerning the cost, few will argue that that should be a matter for the Borough alone. Rather is. it a national matter—as indeed is the whole question of soil erosion and the consequent flood menace. That has been recognised to a point in the Government’s policy of establishing Catchment Boards, and there is no doubt that one of the major problems to be placed before the proposed Bay of Plenty Catchment Board when it is fully established will be that of the recurring floods at Whakatane. It is to-be hoped that the Borough Council, with this clear-cut scheme before it, will push the matter forward with determination. There might possibly be some oposition from people who fear possible cost to themselves. Their answer is that the probable cost of future flood losses will undoubtedly be greater than the possible cost of preventive measures.

There may be some who will have constructive suggestions to offer for the amendment or improvement of the proposals. If such there are it will be their duty to bring forward their ideas, that the best possible plan might be evolved for the common good. Then let the hope be repeated that the matter will not be allowed to rest with the mere production of a report and an impressive array of constructive suggestions, but that the Council will direct steady and energetic efforts to seeing these plans, or others even better, brought to early fruition.