DRAINAGE PROBLEMS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5115, 15 April 1927, Page 2

DRAINAGE PROBLEMS.

AWAITI AND NETHERTON.

CABINET MINISTERS’ INSPECTION. FREE GRANTS MADE. A very satisfactory conclusion to the. drainage problem which has been worrying the settlers of the Netherton and Awaiti districts for a very long time was arrived at on Tuesday, when the Hon. Ministers of Lands and Public Works inspected the whole district and then met the settlers in the Netherton Hall. Sums of money will be made available for the improvement of the H drain and the Netherton outlet, the only condition being that the settlers proceed to have the district constituted a drainage district under the Lands Drainage Act, so that the control and the future maintenance will pass from the Lands Drainage Department and the Public Works Department into its hands. The wishes of the settlers were fully met, and the condition imposed was accepted.

Accompanied by Mr K. S. Graham, Commissioner of Crown Lands.: Mr L. B, Campbell, chief engineer. Public Works Department; Mr O. N. Campbell, late chief engineer, Lands Drainage Department ; Mr C. J. McKenzie, assistant chief engineer, Public (WUrkiJ Department; Mr EL Taylor, resident engineer, Lands Drainage Department ; Mr O. G>. Thornton, resident ■engineer, Public Works Department; Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P. for Ohinemuri; and Mr E. L. Walton, county chairman, the two Ministers, toured the area’and spent the whole morning inspecting and getting first-hand information on the drainage problem.

The. party left Paeroa about 9 am., and the first stop was made on the Ngararahi Stop-bank ipad, where settlers were waiting to point out several drains which had been rendered useless by the construction of the stop-bank without the provision of flood-gates. It had keen anticipated that these outlets would not be required, as provision had been made to deal with the drainage in the H drain. However, the settlers contended that on account of its length, lack of fall, and neglected state the H drain had been of very little benefit. At the boundary of the freehold and Crown lands on Pukahu Road ft stop was made, and settlers explained the great difference in the treatment accorded the two areas.

The ridge between the basins of the Awaiti Stream and the Waihou River was then inspected, and Mr M- A. Carter, member of the Elstow Drainage Board, which controls a large area of the land in the Awaiti basin, and who is an old settler of the district, explained the scheme °f drainage and the effect of the blocks plncod ip several of the drains crossing the ridge. From Mr Carter’s section at the end of the Awaiti road the party moved on to inspect the drains which had been blocked, the Pukahu West and Awaiti West roads being also visited.

Travelling by Wilson’s and the old Netherton main road, the Ministers were given the opportunity of inspecting the H drain from the two bridges. The Minister of Public Works was taken to inspect a broken culvert at the H drain flood-gate und the Minister of Lands visited the Netherton wharf to inspect the outlet of the main outlet drain.

Luncheon was provided at the Netherton Hall by ladies of the district, after which a meeting was held. Mr Walton presided, and under his guidance the 60-odd settlers present had their case stated and decided expeditiously and calmly. Mr A. M. Samuel welcomed the Ministers, and expressed the hope-that they would endeavour to place themselves in the position of the settlers when dec',ding on a. solution of the problem, the details of which he traced over a long period. THE H DRAIN.

The first speaker was Mr. T. Vowles, who, as a preliminary, asked what decision the Minister of Public Works had arrived at as a result of the representations made to him from the conference of officers of the Lands and Public Works Departments' and the settlers. The Hon. K. S. Williams, commenting generally on the drainage of the area, said that sooner or later the Government would have to relinquish control to local drainage boards. The capital expenditure would have to be finished, and then'the question of how much of this was to be borne by the settlers would have to be. decided. He did not know who would do the deciding, but if no one else did it Parliament would fix the amount.

As there were many little problems and little unanimity among the settlers, the only solution appeared to be the formation of one drainage district for the whole area. The H drain would be continued and improved, and an extra outle.t would be provided at Pukahu Road, provided an assurance was received, that the settlers would take over the responsibility for the maintenance. He did not wish to make a statement at present on the proportion of capital cost to be borne by the settlers, but he would assuije them that when the matter was finalised no section would feel a burden. Tii regard to additional outlets, he had instructed his officers to carefully observe the effect of the improvements to drain H before deciding if anything else was necessary. Mr Vowles pointed out that the H drain was wholly on private property, and it was desirable to have the land secured ,for drainage purposes before handing it over to local control. The Minister said that this matter would be looked into.

Mr E. Jamieson, on behalf of about 20 settlers, handed in a long statement supporting the adoption of tire scheme formulated at tne Paeroa conference. In the meantime it was ■hoped that the H drain would be given a good cleaning. Mr Jamieson spoke at length, urging consideration of means of relieving the area above the old flaxmill and the advisability of providing outlets through the stopbank rather than depending on tne long H drain. Replying, the s Minister of Publie Works mentioned that he could not

say what area would be affected by the drain H and rated for its maintenance. Like the stop-banking work, the benefits extended far further than was thought. He would not make a statement regarding the amount of Government assistance until the whole matter had been investigated. However, the settlers would not be called upon to pay more than a reasonable amount. The matter of cleaning the H drain would be gone into by -the local officers as soon as possible. AWAITI MATTERS. Mr Hill, the first speaker on this subject, pointed out that the Crown settlers were in a very different position to the freeholders, and drainage and reading works were to be provided for them. Various promises made by Mr Skeet at the time of th e ballot had only recently been carried out. while on the constitution of the Hauraki Plains County Council all reading work had ceased. The matter was taken up by the Hon. Guthrie, and later with the Hons. Nosworthy and Bollard, yet nothing was done until the settlers authorised the County Council to raise a loan for the purpose. Under the circumstances a liberal subsidy should be granted.

Regarding drainage, Mr Hill traced the negotiations with various Cabinet Ministers and officers of th® Government departments. Representations to Sir Francis Bell resulted in drains being made through the ridge to the Awaiti basin, and these worked well until they were blocked up a short time ago without provision being made elsewhere for the unwatering of the land. Given half a chance, the land would produce more than any other area in the province, and even under the present adverse circumstances there were herds producing over. 2001 b of butter-fat per acre, and this was probably not exceeded at the Government farms.

Mr Wakeham pointed out that the Crown had opened up the Awaiti block at a high valuation. It appeared that it was loaded with part of the cost of the Hauraki Plains drainage scheme, which was not far, as the Awaiti was a separate area. The result of the high valuation was that the rates were unduly high compared with the amount of work done. On his previous visit the Hon. A. D. McLeod had promised to seek a grant from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of granting settlers a¥emissjon of rates. This indicated that he realised the necessity at that time of granting some assistance. At the present time this remission of rates would be of great assistance. Mr F. T. V. Johnston, on behalf of the freehold settlers, pointed out that years ago their area had an efficient outlet, but latterly this outle.t had been greatly overloaded by water from the Crown area. The land was really good, provided it had efficient drainage, but at present it was not producing as much as Waihi Plains land. The Hon. A. D. McLeod said he was pleased to be present with the Minister of Public Works, as the matters were so mixed up between the two departments. The Lands Department had no powers whatever to borrow money for its works. AH money was granted through the Public Works Department, "except in the. special case of the Hauraki Plains scheme. The Lands Department only had powe’’ to levy on the land, and any losses made had to be written off the account.

In connection with the Awaiti, there were no records of any promises made, though he would not state definitely that no promises had been made. The drainage of the block was inseparably bound up with the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Scheme, and the cost 'would eventually have to be loaded on to the land. No Government could go on for all time doing construction work and then maintenance without seeing that at some time the cost was borne by the district benefited. It was realised that it was a difficult question to decide ivhat proportion was to be borne by the settlers. Regarding the Awaiti in particular, work would be done, in the future. The officers of the Public Works Department and the Lands Department would decide what should be done, and the Minister of Public Works would be asked for a sum of money for the purpose. He. would not make a statement as to the merits or demerits of any particular scheme as that was a problem for engineers ; but he would say that if ex-perience. proved that the work of the engineers was a failure other schemes would be undertaken. The question of What ■contribution should be. made by the Lands Department would be a matter for consideration between himself and the Public Works Department. The Hon. K. S. Williams was generously disposed towards the' district, and if die would make, a straight-out vote Mr McLeod said he would be pleased to co-operate with hi.m ELSTOW BOARD’S MATTERS. Mr kl. A. Carter, member of the Elstow Drainage Board, supported the. remarks of some previous speakers in advocating the early improvement of thi'e Awaiti-Netherton roadside drain, as it would provide an outlet fpr the water which would otherwise flow into the Elstow Drainage Board’s area. This board was already dealing with the water from nine settlers outside its area, but was quite prepared to continue to do so, as with the installation of pumps, it was hoped the kind would be kept dry.

Concluding the conference, Mr A. M. Samuel thanked the two Ministers for the thorough inspection and closii attention given the matters brought up by the settlers. He also wished to thank on behalf of the settlers the departmental officers for the close attention given the various matters. Seeing that the Ministers had promised q]l that they were able to and the settlers had received all that they reasonably expected, all parties should leave the meeting feeliner verv pleased. Mr Andrews, chairman of the Elstow Drainage Board, added his thanks to the Ministers and to Mr Samuel.

When returning thanks the Hon. A. D. McLeod said that since speaking last he had learned that it was possible to make a direct grant for the

Netherton drain. However, before this was done he thought the settlers should have a drainage board constituted.

Mr B. Halligan pointed oiit that this would take considerable time, and the settlers could not afford to wait that long, for another winter such as the past one would drive them off their farms.

The Minister stated that as it was necessary to obtain certain materials from beyond the Dominion the work could not be commenced for. some time.

The Hon. K. S. Williams, in return-, ing thanks stated that the grants proposed to be made would be added to the capital cost of the scheme for the area, but this would not detrimentally a'ffect the settlers in the long run, as portion of the capital cost would have to be written off. On the motion of Mr McLeod a vote of thanks was accorded Mr E. L. Walton for the able manner in which he had presided.

Mr Walton returned thanks and moved a vote of thanks tp Mt A. M. Samuel for the great amount of work he had done and the trouble and expense entailed on behalf of the settlers.

Replying, Mr Samuel said that it was not with the idea of patting him on the back, but a large amount of credit for the. satisfactory conclusion of the meeting was due to Mr Walton for Jhe manner in which he had conducted it. The Hauraki Plains was very fortunate in having as its county chairman a man of the capabilities of, Mr Walton.