A COMPLICATED POSITION

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5044, 27 October 1926, Page 4

A COMPLICATED POSITION

CENTRAL PLAINS DRAINAGE. ANOTHER SCHEME SUGGESTED. The question of providing better drainage facilities for the area in the Horahia drainage district between the Orchard East and KerepeehiWharepoa reads and the area in the Hauraki Drainage Board’s district near the Huirau and Turua-Netherton road,s has been the subject elf much discussion during the last few years, and the position of late hap become very complicated. The two drainage boards and several separate groups of settlers are all concerned in p.aJiticul!ar aspects, and several schegnes have been carried out and Others suggested. These suggested scheme|s have been ■a;mended so frequently and opinions changed, so mucn that it is difficult to sum up the position. The matter was discussed at length at Thursday’s ■meeting of the Horahia Board, but as much of the discussion was taken iu committee the position was not made clearer to any extent. Messrs J. A. Bennett and A. J. Heaseman waited upon the -HorUhia Board and showed a petition which was to be presented to the Hauraki Drainage Board. The petition was from 19 Hauraki drainage area settlers, and the object of making' .the Horahia Board acquainted with its contents was to secure its, co-opera-tion in the proposals suggested. At a meeting at the Huirau Road factory recently certain motions were carried, but immediately after the meeting, when settlers had more fully discussed the matter, a different decision was arrived at, and as a result the petition was circulated.

The prayer of the petition was,: To prepare a special roll 'for a special rating area (denned), and to raise a special Ipan for the purpose of carrying put further and more complete drainage within the area, in conjunction with the Horahia Drainage Beard.

The improvements proposed were as follows :—

“(a) Wharepoa Road drain to be, improved.

“(b) Te Kauri No. 1 drain to be widened to 30ft top from .the floodgate to the bent in Clark’s property, then 18'ft top to the boundary of the Horahia Drainage Board’s area. The drain to be made 7ft deep at the bend in Clark’s property. “(c) The Willow drain to be widened to an 18ft top from the roadl to the Horahia, boundary. The willows not to be touched and all widening done on the opposite bank. The flood-gates to be made to function.

“(d) The mouth of thq Thames’(Valley drain to be improved; but tot remain in the same place, and three 4ft flood-gates to be constructed. “(e) The Waihou River to be stopbanked from the Willow drain to Daily’s outlet: “(f) 'A bldck to be put in the Te Kauri No. 1 drain between the farms of White and Charteris to protect the Gumtown ratepayers from Horahia water.

“(g) Both Huira,u Roadside drains to have one ten inch, flooidgate provided at Heaseman’s and Daily’s corners respectively. “The petitioners consider that these improvements to existing drains will provide ampfe drainage for the, said area, and they agreed to pledge.their whole-hearted support toi the levying of a special rate on ]ban of about £lOOO.

After discussing details of .the work Mr W. E. Hale congratulated, the petitioners on their move.

Mr Hale moved, and Mr Murray seconded, that the Horahia Board expressed willingness to co-operate with the Hauraki Board in giving better facilities to the area. Mr Hale observed that he did not wholly agree, wiin „ome of the details but supported the idea, and would be prepared to leave the details to the Hauraki Fo?.rd.

Mr McDuiT m>ru:-ed the motion, urging that the matter deserved closer consideration.

After the luncheon adjournment Messrs. F. L. Hamilton, j. c. 'Miller, jnr., and W- McCd>mb, as. one. deputation, and Messi’s. Greenaway, D. Shilton, and E. Hunter, as' a second deputation, waited upon the board, Mr Hamilton sa,id that the petition had been received and knowing that thq Horahia Board had not sufficient money to meet its share, urged that a thorough examination of the area be made to determine what work was devisable to give the heist results with the least outlay. They objected to the money allocated folr the Te Kauri drain beipg used for other purposes, w!hich were not included in the loan proposal. Mr Shilton supported! the Objection to spending the monay allocated for the Te Kauri drain, in the Hauraki Drainage Board's! The chairman agreed .that it was desirable to thoroughly investigate the problem on the spot so .as to find a way of giving; relief to the Orchard East area, 'settlers. The scheme of the petitioners of the Hauraki area might be all right, but it certainly needed close investigation before financial suipport was promised. Details of the work were discussed •a,t length. Messrs Hamilton, Miller (junr.), and McComb supported the Te Kauri proposal and. Messrs Hunter and Shilton opposed it. It was agreed that the board should, inspect the area and employ a competent engineer to draw up a scheme. Some hours' later, when.' other deputations had been heard; tliq. clerk pointed out that Mr Haije’s motio’n promising co-operation with the Petitioners’ scheme had not been put to the meeting, and further discussion ensued in committee. Finally, after several amendments, it was decided that the board did not bind! itself to any definite scheme at present, until the area had been inspected..Tlie inspection was made on Friday.

At tlie Hauraki Drainage Board meeting on Friday the petition was presented hy Messrs J. A. Bennei'-t, A. ,T. Heascman, and J. <A. Hamilton, Tn reply to Mr Heapriey Mr Hease■Tna.ll said that the nort Ji-side drain on

Wharepoa Road was the dne referred to.

The clerk pointed out .that the cost of raising the loan, etc., would have to be added to the £lOOO stipulated or thq amount of money available would be reduced.

Mr Heaseman said that it wash useless referring the matter to meetings of ratepayers. It was .therefore suggested that a committee of ratepayers be consulted.

Mr R. H. Baker said that Mr McConnell had estimated .the cost of the stop-banking of the whole of Huirau Point at approximately £lOOO. The settlers, concerned unanimously favoured having the stop-banking proposal included in a loan proposal. The men with stop-banks and the men who would lose laiid by the erection of stop-banks were prepared to waive the question of compensation. It was essential that the control olf the stopbank should be vested in. the drainage board, and that it be fenced throughout.

Mr Heaseman mentioned that the stop-bank would have to be about 2ft higher than the present stop-banks. In reply to Mr McMillan Mr Houseman sa,id it was contemplated that the £450 subsidy was available for the work.

Mr Gray stated that the £4'so was due to the whole of the, board’s area, and not necessarily for any one area.

Mr McMillan pointed out that the two beards would have to work in conjunction, a,nd as yet it was not known whether the Horahia Board supported the proposal. Mr Gray mentioned that there were 1250 acres to be benefited by the drains and 825 acres on Huirau Point to be protected by the .stop-banking. While the stop-banking would be a benefit to the two .areas the drainage works would not concern the Huirau Point settlers, yet they would have to contribute to the maintenance.

Mr Heaseman said that the Huirau Point settlers were naw agreeable to be included in the rating area for the combined scheme. It might be advisable to get their signatures to a petition to that effect, the Ohly objection being that it would necessitate delay.

The pros and cons of the scheme, and of the numerous other schemas previously elaborated were discussed at length. Mr Heappey said that as. it was necessary to work in with the Horahia Bofard it was necessary to ascertain that board’s views. If col-opera-tion could not be effected it might be advisable for a new scheme to be prepared. Mr Heaseman said that in event of opposition from the Horahia, Board, wihch was unlikely, a much cheaper scheme cduld be prepared. Mr McMillan said that the Horahia Board was investigating the matter. At the meeting on Friday next the position would be clear, and some finality could probably be reached. Returning to the stop-banking proposal, Mr Gray suggested that the Huirau Pdint settlers should prepare a petition for a combined scheme signed by those who desirefl the stopbanks as well as those who had already signed the petition just presented. The board would dd its best to push on the project. After the deputation had withdrawn members commented on the suggestion to widen the Willow drain on one side only. The opinion was that the willow trees should be removed a'nfl the widening done on both sidesi or solely on the side of the trees so that the stumps, would be entirely rembyed. There was no doubth that the willows were a menace, but the cost of removing them would be great.

Mr McMillan expressed the opinion that it would be too costly a matter to endeavour to make the Wilßw drain an efficient outlet. It would be advisable to cut the los[s and abandon it rather than spend money on enlarging the. drain. Mr Baker pointed out tha,t many of the Hauraki settlers depended for an Outlet on the Willow drain.

Mr McMillan asked what was l wrong with the proposal to construct a new outlet through Taylor’s. In his opinion it would be a much cheaper project.

Mr McMillan moved that the foreman be instructed to prepare estimates for constructing the Willow outlet : (1) as suggested in the petition, (2) battered evenly on both sides, including the removal of the willow trees, (3) removing the willows and dding all the enlarging on t'he side of thq trees, and (4) for enlarging the’ Thames Valley outlet.

Seconded by Mr Baker and carried. It was also decided tp confer with the Horahia, Drainage Board as soon as the estimates were available. The Lands Drainage Engineer, Kerepeehi (Mr E. Tayloh), advised; in reply to a query by the board 1 , that the cost of improving the stop-bank round Huirau Point would be about £lOOO. This was only an approximate estimate based on similar wonk oh the Piako River, but it could be taken as a general indication of the cost of the proposed work. The department could have the necessary levels taken and specifications prepared.