RIVER NAVIGATION.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4384, 1 March 1922, Page 2

RIVER NAVIGATION.

i Within a few days Paeroa is likely /to receive a very severe blow to its commercial life, inasmuch as the Northern Steamship, Company is about to retire fropi its present' wharf to the public Works Department’s wharf at the Puke, the Reason beirig that theOhinemuri River has silted up so badly that the boats can come up to the company’s wharf only with the greatest difficulty. At the Department’s wharf a charge of 2s per ton on goods will be levied, and the cartage to and from Paeroa will be correspondingly more expensive for the longer distance. ' This will be a good thing for local, carrying companies, but not for anyone else. Curiously enough, the public seems apathetic about the matter; some time ago the Mayor agitated most strongly for the dredging of the river, but no, public support worth mentioning was forthcoming. It does not seem to be fully realised that when the change takes place every member of the community will have to pay more and more for his or her goods than is now paid, to say nothing of the drawback the town’s trade will suffer in competition with other centres. Admittedly, the prospect of getting any assistance from the Government in this matter seems hopeless ; had the railway been privately-owned the shipping would never have receded from' the old junction, but obviously the Government is persistently endeavouring by a policy of “masterly inactivity” to kill the river competition in freights. Once this end is accomplished the. preferential freights will disappear, and an increase of over 100 per cent, will be imposed. But by taking its present attitude the Government is surely shortsighted; for by allowing th'e bed of the to silt up the flood-carrying capacity of the river is automatically and very seriously restricted, and the Height of the i stop-banks nullified to a corresponding > degree. The time is ripe for another vigorous protest, for such advantages of navigation as are left to the town are well worth strenuous fighting for their retention and extension. And for the Government’s side of the question, it is safe to predict that at some time in the future it will be obliged to dredge the river in order to make the stop-banks effective. Perhaps the Government is hoping to be quit of the whble improvement Scheme before , the day arrives when the Ohinemuri River 'must be re-opened, in which event the proposed river board, or rather the ratepayers in the area under its control, will have to “carry the baby.” The Public Works Department estimates that it will cost £lO,OOO per annum to keep the stopbanks in repair; for this sum two dredges could be kept going ah the year round. The ultimate re r suit would be that the carrying capacity of the rivers would be so materially increased that there would be little danger from even the highest floods. That there is sound logic in this statement may be comprehended when it is borne in mind that the bed of the Ohinemuri River' is now anything from 15 to 25 feet above its original level. As the Ohinemuri is silting up at the rate of over a foot per annum not many years will have passed before the stop-banks will have to be doubled in height 'and correspondingly broadened at the base.