SCHEME APPROVED BY LOCAL BODIES

Chronicle (Levin), 26 July 1946, Page 3

SCHEME APPROVED BY LOCAL BODIES

Flood Control in Lower Manawatu *'1 cuiiiM'l liud oue Makerua sct tler again.st tke .sehemo. Li' millioms cuii be wa^ted tui wars surely there caxi be ixo eoiisiileratioa of tlie paltry eosl oJ llns seheuie." saiti Mr. ;s. il. ('luridge, re|iresenlal i\ e of the Makerua Dx'uixiugo iioanl. at a xneetiiig of loeaJ budies liiteresled in a seiiemc lu eoxitrul liio tlood uaters iu the lower Mauawatu Iv i \ er, ealled by tiie Mauawatu t utciiuient 1'ioartl, yeslerday. Mr. llaridgc ashed the eon I'ereJwe to stop talkixig aud get ou wilh the job. Mr. A. i'. Grant, engineer to the Soil ( 'oiiservut ion and Ki\era Control Couueil, outliiied the modilied sehciiio whieh il wus proposed to cariv out, the niuiu moililication being tlie use oi sjiillways insteatl of tlie ordiuary siiaigh't «-ut as fonnerly proposed by tlie Manawata Cateluneut lioard eugijieer. While lieree euJitroeersy ruged aiol dilTereuees of opinion existed iiothing worlhuhtle tould be done, said .Mr. Grant. A worlhwhile seheuie must be souiet iiing whieh was teehuieally souml, reasoualiiv ei-ouojnieal aud whieh had a

large uieasure oi" public support. Tlie sriieiiie put forwa.nl by Mr. Hay some vears ago was tjuite spuud ior the times when he htid had to ereate liis sehetue to lit in wilh tlie liuaueial positiou whieh was iiot curouragi ug, liut iiou Ihe "11 ay ' ' sehetue was iuade(juatc. In 1937, tio- I'tiblie Works Departlrient investigated Ihe- possibility oi' ilood eoutrol in tlie area, and eousitlered twelve dilferenl sehenies. Tu ihe ejol thev deeided to eonstruet euts aud to foJlriw tio- geucra 1 eourse of tiie ri\er, Ihe maia reason I'or this fuial doemioix beiug the clieapuess oi ihe prujeet. Tlie selieiue ltad nol been earried oul, aiol no w tiie preseut. sehetue was to be eoiisidered. Tlie preseut modilied pioposal was good iu severn! aspeets; there woiihl be iess ritdi land takeu, lower Ibiod water levels, aud the eourse of ihe seheuie was tlie slruighlest that could be devised. 1 1 Somelhi ug inust be tlone to reduce tiie flood level, nol raise it, " stated y b. .Mr, .1. Callesen, niember of the Soil ^ ' ( 'onservatioii and Kivers Control Couneil. if tlie water rose to the saine levels as those of the 11102 flood what would happon to the Longburn Kreezing Works or Makerua? Was the , seheine lo provide for reliet" irom ] tloods or coniplete uiimunisatioii ? Deleuates would want to know how Ihe pro- 1 jeet was to be iinaneed. but that was a mattbr for tlie Calelunent Board lo worry over. If there was the ustial siibsifHsntion there was no reason why Ihe ralepayers should pay ntore than lliev did ai preseut. If tiie seheme was put tli rough and interest and sinking ftuid be establislied ou what was alreadv bcing paid. there should be no t roulile with Jinanee. Whai was the best thing to do — tlnker wilh the idea or do soniething worth while? Mr. .1. T. .7. Meatley, ohai ranui of the Mauawatu Catelniient Board. said that tlie linaiieial as]>eet was a poliey matter of the board whieh would be tnade know ii at a future date. I'ntil the assessors and valuers sulmiitted their re.ports, no estimate could be niade whieh would be near enough to make a stalemenf. Mr. R. E. Downes t.Sliannon Borougli Couneil j ; Would if uot be necessary

to put through the minor euts lo pre venl erosion ! Water w ould still tio IJowing aloug the old eourse oi ihe nver. Alr. Grant: liaeli cut would have to be eoiisidered individually. Mr. li. J. Law (Munawatu-Oroua liivei iiuardj, presented an alleruative selnune whieh was siniilar to that pioposed by Alr. Grant. JLe puinted out that the Ai'uvember, 1945, flood reaehed a deptli of 10 feet 0 inches, coyering about fitJU to 1UU0 aeres in. the Kairanga County, and reaehing a level at the tthannon bridge oi' 20 feet, tlie level there in tlie iiood of 1902 being 21.1 leot. Mr. Meatley stated that the Catehnient lioard would be quite open to eonsider auy iinprov emenl in the seheme. Mr. J. Chrystall (ehairinan of the AJanawutu-Oroua Itiver Board) stated that there was no inuuediate hurry to have the seheme put through. There were 27U0 acres of the best land in Kew Zealund going to be takeu by spillways and ponding areas, he said. 'Ihe seheme of tlie Publio Works Depart inenl eoiisidered in 1907 was a better proposa I eeouoinically. The niodiJiod seheme as outlined by Alr. Grant would eoinpletely take away Ihe tloods from the Ha.x area in the ALoutoa swamp, and would be a eomph'te disaster for ihe. indust ry. For that reason the plan was eondemned. The plan was teehnically sound but eeonomieally unsound. Air. A. J. Giinblett (Ilorowlienua Countv Couneil) reealled the devastatimr effeets of the 1*95 and 1897

floods, and usked that altor the veais of talking about what should be donu the projeet be gone ahead with. Mr. N. 1'. Nielsen (Kairanga County Couneil) eudorsed the rcmarks of the previous speuker, and stated that u seheme was wanted w !i i • h was salis faetory for everyone, tliis being n good upproaeh to that ideal. Mr. 1). K. Guy ( I lorowheiuia County Couneih gave an assuriinee that llm seltlers in llm lower reuehes of the Mauawatu liiver were delinilely bcliind the seheme. Mr. II. Bodmore Foxton ) stated llmt qutte ti number of faniilies drew lliejr liviug from the Moutoa esfate, but in Jiis opinion the seheme was the only oue tliat was worlhwhile. He hoped the flax industrv would uot go out, but even in that event numerous farms could be established there, whieh miglit prove better for Foxton. However. was it not possiblo to givc the Moutoa llax area flooding bj* irrigation? Afr. Bownes stated that tlie flax industrv in the Makerua area did not go out because the ground was drained too much, but beeause tlie land sank and

the flax beeame diseased. fTe agreed with Alr. Chrystall that local bodies were behind Ihe previous seheme uiitil they found out whai it would eost tliem. ITe was of the opinion tliat ureas ; i should be rtited on the degree of bene- 1 fit obtained from the seheme and sug- i gested tliat the State take ovor tlie lands receiving most benefif , paying for 4 it ut the priee as it lay and then selling it back when tlie work Imd been . eompleted at the improved value. Arr. F. A'iekerman (Flax Plan Com1 mittee) said that the flooding nnist be stop]ied at all costs. The water could be taken into speeial areas at pro-arranged , places if necessarv. The timo factor was the pressing oue, and he siurgestefl tliat if the larger seheme was to take | vears to compKte the Gatehmenf Board i should examine tlie questioli of master , grades for stopbanks. I Afr. X. T. Easton (Lower Aroutoal ' said that the area would be just as well 1 off un der the pending seheme. and for [ tliat reason he was in favour of.it. Tf the seheme was to take two or three vears he asked that the other euts on the original river eourse be proeeeded with .t'or the proteetion of the settlers. It tvas resolvecl, with, some dissent.

i ; tliat the meeting approved of the gen■ernl seheme as outlined. i Alr. Heatley said that reppesexitati ves had probably* givexi Catehment Board menibers much food for thouglit. The w-hole seheme had to be analvsed and the indireet and direet bonefits deeided by the assessors.