REFERENCE BOARD REQUESTS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4407, 28 April 1922, Page 4

REFERENCE BOARD REQUESTS.

TO MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS. RIVER IMPROVEMENT COSTS. Several deputations waited upon j the Hon. J. G. Codes, Minister of Public Woi ks, during, his visit to' the P.teroa-Hauraki district on Wed- j needaj and Thursday... The deputations were all heard in the Ohinemuri County Council chambers, Mr ! H. Poland. MP, presiding (on Wednesday evcn'ng) and introducing the ; speakers Much of the, matter put , forward has already appeared in the "dazcttc.” Mr Poland introduced the 1 Minister stating that he hoped the Hon. Mr Coates’ visit would result | in benefit to the district. He was sure that, the trip would impress the Minister with the wonderful fertility j of the land. j The Chairman of; .the Thames Valley Drainage Reference Board (Mr E. W. Porritt) subm'tted the following on behalf of the Board : The following resolutions were passed at a general meeting of the Thames Valley Drainage Reference Board held at Paeroa on April 20, 1922, for submission to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works on 'his visit to'the district in April. 1922 : 1. “That this Board disagrees with the high cost of the River Improvements Scheme as shown in the report Of the Commission of 1921. 2. “That the matter of navigation, Te Xroha to ’Paeroa, be brought before Hie Minister, and the matter of dredging in connection with the stopbank;; be stressed under that heading. 3. “That this Board disagrees" with the allocation of the cost of works 'as recommended by tiho 1921 Commission. ■i.. “That the great benefit to the Government of the enhanced value.of • he Crown lands be stressed upon tie Minister of Public Works on his visit, to t'h’s district. 5. “That the Government be asked to-submit to this Board their proposal for any amendment of the Act before any fresh legislation is brought in. .. 6 “That the unjust provisions of the Act in regard to betterment be b ’onght under the notice of the Minister. and that , the Ant be amended to provide for fair compensation io those affected.” Mr H M Wynyard said the Reference Board was representative of the whole of the Thames Valley district. The 1910 Comniiss’on set out certain work, to cost. £130,000' but £2O- - was added for contingencies. In 1917 fhe. Reference Board was formed; as the public thought the works were not being carried out as re|com:mended by the 1910 Commission. Another scheme, costing' a,n additional £400,000 was brought down,. but the people objected and petitioned Parliament. A .commission was appointed in 1919; and its report was very favourably received by the Reference i Boar:'., as its scheme was much less cost'y. It provided for low stonbanks and dredging'of the river, giv- j ing temporary partial protection and a retaining wall for the silt dredged out of the river. Two dredges were to be used. The objebcions bf the 1919 Commission to the total of £685,000 were that the land could not bear the cost. The £625,000 scheme was within measurable dista’nee of the £685,000 one that, the 1919 Commission was set up to find an alternative for. The disappointment ofithe tributaries .could well be imagined when they found that the supposedi v modified scheme was to cost more than the older a •‘nd larger one. If the 1919 report had been acted upon the banks would have been made continuous. The Reference Board asked, that stage one of the 1919 re-

port should be carr'ed out. in its entirety. and then No. 2 gone on with. The various commissions looked upon navigation as being most important, and that the river should be dredged and the shoals removed.

The Minister: Stage 2 was to be paid for by an annua) charge. Who would And the money ? The Government ?

Air Wynyard : No. The Minister : Stage one is now being go'ne on with, and is not interfering with stage two. The first thing of importance is to protect the land, and the dredging of the river second. Mr Wynyard : I agree with that, but it would be a small job to re move the shoals that are interfering with navigation. . Tlie Minister : I have no objection to the proposed conference. We will throw all our cards, on the table. Air E. W. Porritt (chairman of the Reference Board): backed up resolutions 3 and 4. The ’ river works and the Plains drainage works were one and the same thing, and it might, be. possible to put an increased loading on- the unsold lands to carry part of the costs of improvement. This course fvould not interfere,with the sale of such lands. the Minister : Mr J. ,B. Thompson, Chief Drainage Engineer, agrees with that view. INIQUITOUS BETTERMENT CLAUSE. Mr McLean stressed the need for alterat’on of the Betterment Claus?, so that the man holding land high and dry on the edge of the river should not bear the whole burden ; the man further back, on the lowlying land, who was the real beneficiary, should pay for it. THE MINISTER’S REPLY. Replying to the Reference Board’s resolutions the Minister said he thought it. better that the matter be gone into” at the conference. It was only a fair thing that the Board should know what was being, done, and what was intended. It was quite sound that the unsold Crown land should- be loaded with pant of t.he cost.. The 1910 Commission largely guessed at the position. The Department should 'not be blamed. It had asked for £30,000 or £40,000 worth of mreh’nery, hence ‘his visit. Stage one was being gone on with ; stage two was delayed on account of lac.'? of a dredge. The cost of dragline dredges had risen from £l4OO to £5500. The question of what cost each local body should bear would have to be settled soon. He was willing to -submit proposed, legislation to the Board. The cost was a long way ahead of what was anticipated. and the slump of the markets had made the burden harder to bear. INJUSTICE TO BE REMEDIED. The betterment, the Minister said to Mr Furket.t, could hardly ne worse The man whose place the level went through was bearing the whole of the cost, though the adjoining farmers paid nothing, yet they were benefiting, were not charged, and had not had their lands affected. The Betterment Claus,e was most in just, and he would see to the alteration of it. (Applause.) He hoped the settlers would bless and not curse the Department before, the job was finished. The costs would have to be borne by somebody, for the Government could not be made the milch cow indefinitely. Mr Porritt agreed on behalf of the Board, that it would be better to discuss allocations at the Conference. Mr P. E'. Brenan (Mayor of PaeRoa) asked for direct representation of! the Paeroa Borough Council at the conference. ,

Mr Buchanan s,aid .the farmers also wanted representation; there were a number of drainage boards in the area.