PLAINS WEST DRAINAGE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5299, 13 July 1928, Page 4

PLAINS WEST DRAINAGE

FIRST MEETING OF BOARD.

MR. PARFITT ELECTED CHAIRMAN. The Haura,ki Plains West Drainage Board held its, first meeting, in Mr E. L. Walton’sj meeting room, Ngatea, bn Wednesday, the returning officer, Mir Walton, presiding. present were: Messrs T. A. McClean, ADouglas, A. H. McClean, J. Motion, and C. W> Parfitt. Mr Walton read the correspondence relative to the election and the first meeting, and then the section of the: Act concerning the appointment of chairman. chairmanship. 1011 nominations for the chairmanship being called Mr T. A. McClean proposed, and Mr A. Douglas seconded, that Mr C. W. Parfitt be chairman.

Theii'e being .no further nominations, Mr Parfitt was declared. the first chairman.

In returning thanks Mr, Pairfitt salid that he would have, been mor© content to t under (someone else, but having been .appointed l , lie would do his best for the district as a whole. He was pleaded with the personnel of the board, and 1 wasi confident that all members would work i,n the interests of the jvhole district. APPOINTMENT OF CLERK. After considering the matter in committee it was decided that Mir E. L. Walton be temporarily appointed clerk at a salary of £3 a week. FORMAL MATTERS. The date of he regular meeting was fixed 1 as the first Thursday in the month, at 1.30 p.m., at. Mr E l . L. Walton’s office, Ngatea. The clerk was authorised to procure necessary stationery. The bank of New Zealand was; appointed the board’s bankers, and the chairman was authorised to arrange for ap overdraft and to obtain the consent ,of the Minister of Internal Affairs to this procedure. The clerk and any one member would operate, the banking account. TEMPORARY FINANCE. ■W Walton explained that temporary finance could be secured by adopting, the procedure laid down in the 'regulations. The Minister of Internal Affaii'fc fixed a limit for a drainage board’s, overdraft for its first, year. In other years the limit ivas fixed by

statute in accordance with the amouiit of rates, etc. It was necessary for th© board t.o ascertain the amount its general rate would produce and tihen apply to the Minister for permission to get an overdraft up to thrpe-quarters of that amount. Mr Walton pointed out that lit, was not posable to say with any degree of exactness what the board’s revenue would be until the land was classified* for rating purpos.es. The classification of the land, in the area was therefore one of the first matters) to receive attention. CLASSIFICIATION. Referring to classification, Mr Walton said that it. was a matter, of policy for the board to decide' whetheir the area should be classified or .whether application should be mad© to the Governor-Gener,al-in-Council to declaire a uniform classification, over the whole area. He pointed out that a recent decision of a magistrate tin Hamilton w;as to the effect, that if land

was* classified! A, B, C, and D, as allowed by the Act, it would be necessary to have a revaluation made of those lands tin. the various classe's. Mr Pairfitt favoured applying for ( permission to mqke a uniform classification, similar to the one now in operation by the Lands Drainage Department. It would enable a maximum of £l2OO to be raised by rates, and in his opinion the* whole, of thus amount would he required. Messrs. T k McClean, Motion', and A. H, McClean favoured* a uniform classification,. All land in the area would receive ' immediate and 'direict benefit from a board drain. Mir. Douglas, was of the opinion ithat some land would not receive .as much benefit as other lands, but ihe 'did not s:e>e how a classification would improve The chairman said that; land receiving less benefit had a lower valuation. If the valuations were f.'air there was no need for classification. He had invesigate'd the valuations of the area thoroughly, a,nd had formed the opinion that 90 per cent, of the land was fairly ya,luea. It was decided to* seek the advice of the Lands Drainage Department before taking action. GOVERNMENT RATES,

Thei desirability of approaching t;he Lands; Drainage Department for the unexpended portion of the ra.tes it had collected from the board’s disibrlet was advocated by Mr A. H. McClean.

Mr Walton read correspondence which had passed between him, acting on behalf of the; committee formed to consider the constitution of the drainage district, and various Government departments.

On October 25, 1927, Mr .Wajton wrote to the Under-Secret.ary of Lands advising him that the committee had been advised that the; department would collect the drainage rate for the 1927-28 rating year and pay over, to the new drainage bo.a.rd the unexpended balance' oven and above maintenance, so that, the; board, could cfo the cleaning ne*xt autumn. The committee had also been advised that the £l4OO grant would be m,a;de available this year, and that the Minister of Lands had been intervieiwed on the question of .subsidising the maintenance rates for’the first few years; of the board’s existence. In April lais.t, when the Minister was visiting the Plains, he had mentioned at several meetings of settlers ‘ that it. was the policy of the department to encourage the formation of drainage districts, and with a view to fixing an end to the department’s expenditure lie had said that he had in mind a scheme for subsidising the maintenance of the drainage works during the first, five years of the existence of a drainage] board. The' subsidy would be 10s *in the £ the first year, 8s in the £ in the second year, and so on, diminishing by 2s each year. This, the Minister, had stated, should put the

neiw boards on a sound footing and should enable them to carry bn afterwards .without Government assistance'. In concluding his lotted Mr Walton had .asked whether the matter had been discussed by th€ Minister and the Under-Secretary for Lands. Replying, Mr J. B. Thompson, Undeir-Secretary for Lands*, had stated that provision was made in t.he Parliamentary last yejar for a grant of £1450 to the b'oaird of the district when constituted for the construction of flood-gates at Pip'roa. Hopai, a,nd Rawerawe. In regain} to the ratling of the proposed area, arrangements would be made for a irefund of a proportionate part of t.he rates collected by bhei department for the balance of the irat.ing year during which the dr.a.ihage district became constituted. The Minister would be favourable to the granting of a subsidy on the maintenance portion of the rates* bn the lines referred to by Mr Walton ip ihis* letter. These questions would receive definite consideration when the new board started to function.

In January, 1928, Mr Walton advised the Under,-Secretary that, relying on the assurances contained in his letter, the petition of the settlers for the constitution of he drainage district had been forwarded to the Minister of Internal Affairs.

“In February, 1928, the Under-Sec-retary far Lands replied stating that it was proposed to go on with the constitution of the drainage district; a' s from June 1, 1928. He pointed out that, under certain sections of the. Hauiraki Plains Act, 1926, it would b e . necessary after, the constitution! of the drainage district to then, determine by Order-in-Council a date from which the lands within the area S|ha,U be exempt from Government drainage rates. In order that the department would be reimbursed with its expenditure on maintenance between April 1, 1928, and the date when the lands might be exempted from Government drainage rates, a rate must be levied by the department. It was therefore proposed* to levy such a rate. The concluding portion of the letter pointed out that the department had altered its plan, and.* that instead of striking a rate; for the whole of the year in which the drainag.e board! came into being, and refunding the unexpended balance to the board, it would* strike; a rate for portion of the year during whiqh the area, was under its; control.