RIVER PROTECTION

Hokitika Guardian, 31 August 1926, Page 4

RIVER PROTECTION

lire: MAX AW ATT SCHEME. [by TEX.EGRArn —BEK TIIESS ASSOCIATION.] PALMERSTON X.. Aur. 30. The Munuwatu River Board Comm issinnerrs, Mc.ssr.d f{. J[. \\ atsoit,' S.M., (Chairman); A. C. Loch. Engineer (Auckland) and H. E. Leighton, Land Agent (Wellington) sat today. The following local bodies were represented in Court; Manawntu--0 roil a River Board, Foxton River Board, Foxton Harbour Board, Levin Borough, ITorowhenua Cunty, Palmerstn North Borough, Manawatn Drainage Board, Shannon Borough, Kairanga County. Manawatu County, Buckley, Moutoa, and Sluggish River Drainage Boards.

Mr Hannah will represent the Public Works Department. The morning session was taken up with the presentation of the River B aid’s case by its representative, Mr P. E. Baldwin, who drew attention to the fact that the sum of £450.000 was involved. He submitted that the Commission had nothing to do with tile efficiency of the Board's scheme. Thai was a case for engineers, but tile economies of the case came within the Commission’s scope. A difficulty was that local banking schemes only tended to aggravate the flood danger by cutting the water off the original .spillways. and the hanking of one place drove the water on to another.' The only satisfactory scheme was to straighten the river and this was what was proposed. For this work, united control was necessary. The Board Chairman, Mr 44". S. Carter, gave evident at length as to the benefits of the scheme, and stated that the cost would ho too high for the land immediately benefiting. About one-third of the cost was nil that this land could bear. Therefore it was necessary that outside beneficiaries should contribute. Ihe case is expected to last three weeks.