HISTORY OF THE PORT
• EARLY AGITATION STARTING THE NEW WORK lit was.' in the days of provincialism that the first engineering steps were taken to provide a navigable channel into the nvsr from the sea. In 1866 the entrance to the river was near the eastern end of the shingle spit. At that time Mr. one ;of the oldest residents of'Wairoa, was in the employ of the Provincial Council of Ilawke's Bay, and he had instructions from the Provincial Engineer (Mr. "Wilson) that if the entrance blocked up and he considered a entrance could be opened by hirh near the present pilot reserve, he was to do so. The old entrance blocked up. and a cut was made through the shingle beach; a few chains from tho Bluff, and a good channel through the spit was scoured out by the flood waters. There was an island at this time between the shingle spit and the right bank of the river, and on the north-eastern side a mud flat extended, to the river bank. Mr. Gardiner putv on men to opon a gap across this flat; but shortly afterwards tho work was stopped by the Superintendent of the Province, Sir D. M'Lean, and nothing further was done for some time. Some First Steps. That tho people of Wairoa have'long recaguisod that their chief block to progress was lack of an ouUet is shown by the fact that public agitation for improved harbour facilities dates back almost to 1876. In that year, by the passing of the/Counties Act, Wairoa was removed from provin-
hoped that the district would at once make more rapid progress. But Wairoa was passing through many vicissitudes. In that year the district had just emerged from the Maori rebellion, and a long time was taken to recover lost ground. In 1877 a further step in the direction of harbour improvement was taken. In that year the Wairoa County Council took an active part in tho agitation. County records show that on March 8, 1877, Councillor G. B. Flint moved, and Councillor T. Parker seconded; "That in the opinion of this council it is desirable that something be done to effect an improvement to the entrance of tho Wairoa and Mohaka Rivers, to make thorn navigable for vessels, and to further this object the chairman is-re-quested to communicate with the General Government, asking for the services of a Government engineer to ascertain his views as to the best way of effect ing an improvement." That motion was carried, but apparently nothing was done until April, 1878, when Mr. M. R. Miller wrote to ihe County Council re che expected visit of Sir 'John Coode, the eminent engineer, and offering to subscribe a substantial sum towards the cost of obtaining a report on the subject. The Government was approached as to the cost of obtaining such a report, and the Hon. Mr. Macandrew replied, stating that Sir John Coode would report on the river if tho County Council paid a portion of the expenses. That offer was accepted. A good deal of anti-harbour agitation delayed matters, but on May 20 ; 1878, Sir John Coode and his son arrived outside Wa.i•road Heads, in the Hinemoa. Ho made a certain number of inquiries, but was not able to land, Report by Sir John Coode. •' The County Council did not give up hope that something would be done, and in October, 1878, it was decided to inform the Government that the people of Wairoa had not the means to procure information for Sir John Coode to enable him to complete his report on river requirements, and suggesting that the Govenvrnent should find the cost, and defray it out of the first land sale in the district. Nothing came of these and further efforts, but in 1880 the council asked the Napier Waste Lands Board to vest the pilot reserve in the Harbour Board. Tho Harbour Board took charge, and interest •in Wairoa began to slacken. Sir John Coode's report was finally received, and it Ftated- that "after inspecting the port of Napier, and when proceeding therefrom in the s.s. Hinemoa to Gisborne,- I called off tho AVairoa cntranco, but found the surf of the beach too heavy to admit of landing. , . . Shortly after our arrival Mr. H. J. Williams, secretary of tho Wairoa County Council, came off in tho pilot boat, accompanied by tho Maori pilot Jones), who had acted in that capacity for about six yeaa? previously. Reporting from tho information supplied him tho engineer said that Pilot Jones stated that .on three or four occasions within the
previous six years he had known as much, as 20ft. of water at the'entrance after a "fresh." ' Captain/ Fairchild, of the Hinemoa, informed him that in the year 1863 he had found about 18ft. of water at the high water at tho Wailoa entrance, and that the depth did not vary greatly for a period of two years A Troublesome Entrance. "The navigation of the Wairoa entrance is, however," eaid Sir John Coode,. "evidently subject to great fluctuations, seeing that according to Mr. Williams's statement the river, on the average of years of late, has only been open to steamers of very small draught, about 4ft. or sft. for about nine months out of although it had, on some occasions, been known to remain open for two 'or three years continuously. In a memorandum kindly presented by Mr. Burton, when I was in the Colony, it is stated that the bed of the river, immediately wjthin the gravel bank and for a, considerable distance above it, has been much raised of late years by the.deposit of mud brought down the river by freshete. I may remark that sections of the riverbed certainly appeared to substantiate this view, and 1 may add that some facts mentioned by Captain Fairchild servo to show that this deposit ban become so tenacious > that it is very doubtful whether the scouring action of the.currents will alone sulfice to restore the former depth. Tho observations of Mr. Edgar Jones I have established the fact that the normal current on the ebb tide runs out. at the rate of four knots per hour, and that the flood runs inward at the rate of 2i knots per hour. As was remarked to mo by Captain Fairchild, the Wairoa, in this respect, differs from thi rivers on tho West Coast of the South Island, inasmuch as at Wairoa there is stated to be a strong ingoing current on the flood, for at least half the year, and during a great part of the remaining, six months the inward current runs at a moderate current during the flood tide. Having regard to the remarkaole character of the material of which the beach is composed—namoly, of small particles, round in shape and /very uniform in size, and consequently •very easily moved, and bearing in mind that the' entrance is exposed to tho full force of the ocean swell, it will be obvious that the mouth of the AVairoa, so long as it remains unaided by artificial works, must, of necessity, be subject to obstruction to* a serious extent, aud sometimes to being absolutely blocked. A Practicable Suggestion. "We aro thus led up to the important question whether, the entrance, and the river within, up to the second, reach opposite the Marine Parade, can bo so far improved, at a reasonable outhiy, as to be rendered uninterruptedly and permanently navigable by such
pected to frequent the port were the requisite facilities provided? After careful consideration, I am of opinion that this question might be _ answered in the affirmative, and that it will be' quite practicable, by the execution of the works about to be described, to form and keep open a permanent entrance; Having such a depth as will meet all the requirements of the case." ■ Sir John Coode then went on to describe the necessary works, and showed, that for a sum of £59,500 it would be possible to form a permanent entrance to tho river, having a depth of 12ft. to 14ft., at high water of spring tides, assuming the rise of those tides to be 7ft. 3in. The text of this report was the basis for many others, but the only one tried failed, owing mainly to the fact that it departed from the lines laid down by Sir John Coode. More Recent Efforts. Passing over many efforts, and coming to more recent times, the question of harbour improvement was still troubling the minds of the residents'in 1908. In that year Mr. J. Corkill, the present chairman, was elected chairman of the Harbour Board, and it was decided to obtain full particulars on the matter from Mr. Leslie Reynolds, CE. By September of the same year Mr. Reynolds had reported on a scheme of improvement, and it was decided that stops should bo taken to borrow the necessary money to put the scheme in operation at onco. The estimates for the work were as under: —
£ Western mole 82,690, Eastern molo 35,370" Plant 5,350 Engineering 8,670 Total 77,080 Nothing further was done until June 11, 1909, when it was decided to again ask for an endowment. Sir James Carroll was invited to visit the district, which he did, but he.could give little hope of an endowment beyond the foreshore and the Taramarama timber reserve. In July the County Council called a meeting of county ratepayers, hut nothing came of it. In October the board decided to send Messrs. Corkill, Symes, and Britnell to Wellington to support the Harbour Bill. There was a certain amount of opposition from the county ratepayers, who would have had to bear the major cost, but the Boroujrh Council unanimously endorsed the Bill. The deputation was successful to a certain extent, and the supporters of a progressive policy Were satisfied with the Tesults, as the only alterations to the Bill were the cutting out of the foreshore clause (the consent of the Crown not having been obtained), and those clauses already . provided for in the Statute law. The rate was fixed at. not more than Id. in the £, and the 3-5 majority was insisted upon. No move was made then, as alterations - in the rating of Native lands were expected. Parlia-
ment met in .July, when the necessary amendment was foreshadowed. When ifr seemed ' certain that the law would be amended, a further step was taken, and it was decided, not without opposition, to ta.ke a {soil to Taise a loan of £78,000. * In September notice of the taking of the poll was given, for borrowing £78,000, currency 36J years, at 5 per cent. About the middle of September the Foreshore Vesting Bill, granting 800 acres of reclaimable area to the board,, was practically assured, and the 1000-acre endowment was in about the same position. Loan Proposals Carried. The poll was fixed for October 29, and there still remained some opposition, which was gradually worn down. On the eve "of the poll the following message from the Mayor (Mr. J. Corkill) was published:—"Ladies and gentlemen, —For half a life-time the attention of the distriot has been centred on the great need for improved communication by the sea, which must be for all time tho only highway for carriage of our imports and our exports. To-morrow the opportunity presents itself to the people of securing the long-looked-for harbour. If this opportunity is allowed to slip you will soon realise that you have thrown away the opportunity of a lifetime. I would, at the last moment, appeal to the people to set aside all personal and petty feeling, and class prejudice, if any such exists, and let us for once show the outside world that we have taken control of our own affairs, determining to make Wairoa what it should be—one of the most important centres on the East Coast, which it will be, and very soon, too, if tho loan is carried." The poll taken the following day wos a complete success, tho voting being: For the poll, 608; against, 160. Majority over three-fifths, 148. ' The result was heard with general satisfaction, and in announcing tho poll the Mayor said that tho result v showed that the ratepayers of the district had faith in ,a project that would some day open the port to the outside world. They had been tied up long enough, ho pointed' out, but the time of high freights and oxcossive charges, with delays and other inconveniences, was nearly past. With such conclusive proof that it was the general desire to have the scheme cone on with, the opposition died down, and tenders were called for, and received as follow :-C. F. Pulloy, £79,576 13s.'2d. (successful); and R. M'Gaffin, £83,493 13s. The First Pile Driven. The day on which the first pile was driven in the new undertaking, May 20, 1912, was an auspicious one for the whole distriot. The important ceremouy had attracted people from Gisborno and Napier, as well as from the remotest
ceremony was performed by Sir James Carroll, The first pile having been driven. Sir Jas. Carroll stepped forward to address those assembled. At the same time he read a telegram from -the thenMinis--1 tor of Public Works (the Hon. W. D. S. Macdonald) as follows:—"With reference to the function of driving the first pile in connection with the new harbour works for to-day. I wish, through , you, to congratulate the people of Wairoa on having come to and passed another'landmark in the progress of their district. AVairoa is a district with great potentialities before it, and _ the improvement upon transport facilities ,ww entered upon will, I hope, make Wairoa one of the most progressive and easily accessible districts in the Dominion. I wish the function every success." A Red-tetter Day. Sir Jas. Carroll said that tho day was a red-letter day in the history of Wairoa, and as time progressed, and as they advanced, Wairoa would bo one of the best harboured localities in the Dominion. After referring to "those mighty spirits," who, though now placated, had blocked up tho entrance to the river to punish tho presuming pakeha, ho said that he had pleasure in naming the training-walls after the now, placated taniwhas of the Waitoa. The western wall, which they had started that day, would be Tapuae, and the eastern wall, with its little railway and its steam ' crane, would be Te Maha. There would be now a happy combination of forces that must result in tho development of the great potentialities of AVairoa, and tho time was surely coming when no more would they witness, as they did that day, the bar blocked up, but when such happenings would be relegated to past history. Sir Jas. Carroll also referred to another matter which is of vital importance .to AVairoa, the East Coast railway, then started at, both ends, _ and converging on AVairoa. He said he was taking steps te impress upon the Ministry the needs of starting at. AVairoa, too, to secure a more speedy rate of construction. Such is the history connected with the early difficulties which faced those progressive settlers, who saw that in an open port was the only means of making successful one of the richest portions of the Dominion. Now thenwork has been brought almost to a completion. But they are on the high road to success, and strong in the belief that the district must go ahead, everything possible is to be 4 0n6 to keep it before the eyes of New Zealand.
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Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2382, 11 February 1915, Page 4
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2,590HISTORY OF THE PORT Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2382, 11 February 1915, Page 4
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