AREA IN DANGER

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 53, Issue 32406, 13 March 1944, Page 5

AREA IN DANGER

STOPBANK NOT SAFE CONCERN OF SETTLERS DEPUTATION TO THE BOARD A deputation introduced to a recent meeting of the Hauraki West Drainage Board by the chairman, Mr C. W. Parfitt, comprising Messrs D. Waite and R. G. Williams, emphasised the danger of the stopbank between the Hopai and Pipiroa roads collapsing with resulting loss in production and urged that some work be done before the winter. ' A petition presented by the deputation read as under, “ At a meeting of the settlers ot Hopai road concern was felt at the failure of the drainage board to make a start with the work of repairing the damage caused to the stopbank ■between Hopai and Pipiroa roads by the flooding of June 1943. After the flood attempts were made by the affected settlers to repair the bank but on account of the amount of damage done and the lack of spoil within shovelling distance it was then realised that the job could not be underi taken by hand and that mechanical assistance would be required. Machinery Necessary “This was pointed out to the chairman of your board who admitted that machinery was necessary and promised to endeavour to have the bank made secure by a dredge if one could be secured. “As the wet season is now approaching and no start has yet been made with the work we feel that we

have no security against even normal spring tides and if effective work is not done by May, serious flooding is sure to occur. “If the bank in its present condition is once breached the whole length from Settlers’ drain south for threequarters of a mile will collapse. This is the opinion of the five settlers who tried to repair the bank. The water through such a gap would flood the Pipiroa area even behind the new stopbank, and would neutralise the benefit which the settlers along the coastal strip may have derived! from the money already expended!; Safety Wanted “We have paid our contribution towards the erection of the new stopbank and arc willing to wait our turn for the finished job but feel that as the collapse of the present bank is a certainty with the coming of the wet season the drainage board should effect such repairs as would ensure our safety from flood until such time as the dredge reached this area. “We would ask the board after consideration of this letter to receive a deputation at its February meeting to discuss means of effecting satisfactory repairs.” Members of the deputation stated that nine settlers from the Hopai road area who had attended a recent meeting of all settlers had said that if they were flooded again the coming winter they would have to go out of dairying next season. After the meeting the board members conferred with the land drainage engineer at Kerepeehi, Mr Taylor, in an attempt to secure a dredge to do the work. Mr Taylor had agreed to help the board in finding a machine if possible.