THE HUTT RIVER

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 15, 13 October 1943, Page 8

THE HUTT RIVER

Failure Of Control Board (To the Editor).

Sir With every flood of any magnitude and even with lesser floods, acres of high-class agricultural Jami are being carried out to sea by the Hutt R*'® l, Much of this land, which Ims probably taken centuries to build up, C“ rr ‘®s finest growing soil, varying 10 lect i.i depth or more. This land can never be replaced. Little protection of any ’ .a u. has been carried out by the existlln t River Board for very many years. Ibis board consists of five members of miuuie a-e. None of these members own anj land on the river and it is very doubtful if anv of them ever see the river excepting when they cross the mam bridge. The Hutt River Board was ioimcil many years ago to bring the river uiider control, when it practically wandiitd over the greater part of the Hutt liillej', evidenced by oh) courses right up to tl I main road, even now only partly ojfiteiated by filling. On the lower reaches the adjoining land—l etone and Iluij c ity—were protected by a stopbank, an much credit is due for this work to tlm late Mr. R. C. Kirk, then mayor ol Perone, who against much opposition inaugurated the work. The late Mr. Laing Mason, a river engineer of some, note i.i those days, then took the work in hand, and bv a system of open-timber groynes slowlv and gradually connned the river 15 some extent to a definite channel. During late years this system of groynes has to a great extent been superseded. fiy a system of anchoring willows by wirenetted baskets filled with stone along the banks of the washouts. These willow screens rarely have time to take root before the next Hood washes them away, and even when they have takeh root and in many cases rooted for years the t 00l water gets in behind them and either washes them out to sea or into nndehaimel. where they anchor ant grow and so form fresh barriers to further spread the river. Some years ago. when a bad washout occurred to the hard rock in tne Taita Gorge, this system of willow screen was constructed with tn one inevitable result of the next Hood washing it into the centre of the stream, to form a fresh barrier, .and the flood waters disdainfully whipped out the willow screen and scoured the rock to suen an extent to make the gorge, impossible to wheeled traffic. How the inaugurator of this idea expected these willows to root in the solid rock is incomprehensible. Stone grovnes, comprised of No 8 wire nets, filled with boulders, were then constructed at great expense, and .the clift excavated to give necessary width for traffic.' This No. S wire netting has lasted for a few years and may last a few more, but in the past when adopted it has not lasted for many years, either tlie flood water scours underneath and the °royne brciiks off. ftllowin# the boulders to spill out or the huge boulders .coming down with tremendous force with, tne flood waters, striking the wire, cut it co pieces with the same result. This evidenced in the past in almost every case where this type of groyne has been constructed. . The deepening and control of the river would be a further blessing to every resident on the flat in the Lower Hutt Valley. One has only to stand on any shoal in the river and. even a laymans eve can see how the riverbed has risen while the hanks in many cases are . becoming negligible, resulting in the river in flood spreading and seeping through the whole of the flat land, mid to this can be attributed the well-known dampness of the Hutt Valley flat land. Scores of Hutt residents I have met complain ot mouldy clothes, boots, etc., if left in wardrobes for a few weeks. Rheumatism and its fellow-ailments are becoming rampant. Many have been and are compelled to leave the Hutt on these accounts even although they have been attracted and attached to their lovely gardens and the flat land as a playground for their children. In many parts three feet down or even a spade depth shows surface water. This is accentuated through the bed of the river having risen during the course of the last few years, causing the water to seep through the land, and. the capillary action of the sun drawing it to the surface, and so we have the fogs.. In the days of the late Mr. Lain o Mason, the wooden open groyne was probably the best of its kind, and had it been persevered with and not serajiped for the ridiculous willow screen idea much loss and damage may have been avoided, but with the advent of modern earth-moving machinery it is as obsolete as the wheelbarrow to a power angledozer. The Hutt River Board, at its last annual meeting, gleefully produced a bal-ance-sheet showing a credit balance ot about £9BOO, which was to be a reserve for the cost of the Melling Cut. This old Melling Cut has been the perennial “red herring” drawn across the trail ot all the river’s woes. Admittedly the Melling bend may be classed as a bad bend, but it cannot be blamed for all the troubles on the river. Before the present board neglected the river protection, the river to some extent cleared itscL, remaining within reasonable bounds, although the Melling bend was still there. A considerable portion of this £9BOO. vias receivedj in royalties from the shingle companies operating on the river. Members in the past have told me the board did not want the river deepened and straightened, as the shingle would wash out to sea with consequential loss or shingle revenue, but how does this affect the Lower Hutt property-owner who contributed by way of rates a considerable portion of the £9OOO and has to put up with his land bojng damp and with its resultant sicknesses to his family and himself? , ~ The policy in the past when protection work of some value was carried out, was to wait for a washout to occur, and then put in a wood groyne or stone weir, but o'f course of late years the absurd willow screen has been most adopted. I have no doubt that if a reasonably good wording foreman who studied the river and its vagaries were placed in charge he would to a great extent detect weaknesses before they developed and rectify before the damage were done. Although the river shingle companies have latterly been removing enormous quantities of shingle chiefly for defence purposes they cannot cope with the enormous quantity lodging in the bed with each flood. The only way to deepen. the channel and give reasonable protection to the banks, .thereby lessening dampness to the whole Hutt Valley (water will find it’ own level) is to adopt modern methods, which can be obtained by the board expending some of the £9OOO for a walking dragline, similar to those used on the Mississippi and other troublesome rivers. This dragline, with orange peel equipment, would clear the riverbed of waterlogged stumps, logs, willows and other obstruction, clear channels through the shoals, and build stopbanks with the spoil on each side. The river shingle royalties need not be lost, as the shingle companies could go on working for many years, and extensive “dumps ' could be established at intervals from which the shingle companies could still operate and pay a far larger royalty, as this method would be so much cheaper than their own. AA’hen the river is low one has only to stand on the main Hutt bridge and see the accumulation seaward . of waterlogged stumps and logs lying in the riverbed. building up the shoals and generally blocking the channel. The walking dragline orange peel would economically lift out these logs, etc., and the dragline bucket worked by the same machine would clear the channel of shingle. The last weekend flood has caused further damage, wasting away acres of valuable land, and bad the tides not been low there was every probability that much greater damage would have been done. I suggest that the existing board must feel that they have not been successful in controlling the river and protecting river property, and they should immediately resign to give younger and more interested men a chance to take their places so that. something constructive may he done this coining summer. I put this query to each and every member of the board: “On what dates during.the last three years did you inspect the river from its mouth up to, say, Hayward's bridge?” An answer . through your columns would lie appreciated. I say. Sir. for reasons already stated this matter is not only of urgent and paramount importance to the Hutt Valley and its residents but also to the whole of New Zealand and Wellington in particular.- —I am, etc., JAMES STELLIN. September 30.

Charlie Mahuru pleaded guilty in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, yesterday to five charges of theft. He was convicted and discharged on four counts and on the remaining one was sentenced by Mr. Stout. S.M.. to six months’ imprisonment. Mr. E. Parry, who appeared for accused, said that the offences had been committed under the influence of liquor and all the property had been restored.