PORT OF FOXTON.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 30504, 29 June 1926, Page 3

PORT OF FOXTON.

MEETING OF BOARD. The regular monthly meeting of the Foxton Harbour Board was held in Palmerston North yesterday afternoon. Present: Messrs. J. Linklater M.P. (in the chair), J. A. Nash, M.P., E. E. B. Holben, R. McMurray, M. Mortensen, J. Clirvstall and T. J. Clapham. RIVER. IMPROVEMENTS. A letter was read from the Department of Internal Affairs advising the appointment of a commission to inquire into the cost of works proposed to be carried out by the Manawalu River Board. Mr. Chrystall failed to see the necessity for a commission at all, as in the last analysis all would fall back on the individual ratepayers. There were two schemes, a cut in the river, estimated to cost £460,000, and a spillway, to cost £170,000 and which was to be carried out? Why not let the River Board strike a general rate over the whole area concerned and so save further trouble. On being asked to indicate what benefit t'he bigger scheme would be to the port, Mr. Nash said he had repeatedly expressed the opinion that they would never make a success of the harbour until the wharf -was shifted to Rush Flat, whence vessels could get a depth of 15 to 20 feet to the sea. He was satisfied that the proposal would be of great benefit to the Board. Mr. Chrystall said he had been told by the chairman of the Drainage Board that the direct route had been abandoned on account of the cost. The spillway scheme would be of no benefit to navigation at all. Messrs. Holben and Nash agreed that the Hartley’s Bend -cut was the only scheme that would assist the harbour the latter remarking that the railway then would be running to the Heads, which would become a very important place. Messrs. Chrystall and Linklater will represent the Bonrd when the commission sits. GIFTS OF LAND. The Mayor of Foxton (Mr. M. E. Perreau) * wrote informing the Board that an area known as the Native cemetery reserve had been gifted for education purposes, on condition that one of . the owneis was granted the use of a section of land In' the Board. Mr. Nash said the Board had already given ground on the river front for baths, for which purpose the site under review was intended, but they should help the Borough all they could in these matters. Mr. Chrystall opposed the granting of the use of a section on principle. They had already given an ideal site for baths that could have been supplied at no cost either with river or artesian water, hut the cost of pumping alone on the proposed site would he £20(1 a year.

If the citizens of:’ Fox ton, having dropped the first proposal, were prepared to foot the hill, said Mr. Nash, that was their funeral. He moved that the rights of a section indicated he transferred to the Native owner concerned daring his lifetime at a rental of Is a year, tho allocation of the site to he finalised hy the local committee. ’ Mr-. McMurray, in explaining why it wds desired to secure a site near the school, said the Education Department would in that case grant £250 capitation and it would also be cheaper to control. Mr. Holben thought that the Education Department should not benefit at the Board’s expense, hut was reminded hy Mr. Nash that the Palmerston North Borough Council in his time had given areas of 10 and 5 acres as school sites.—Mr. Nash’s motion was carried. GENERAL. The Manawatu Shipping Company urged that the Board should fulfil its earlier promise to establish o-roynes at Robinson’s Bend as soon as possible so that the s.s. Ke*inedy would not be obstructed in the river. Mr. Chrystall explained that the local committee had authorised the purchase of explosives to remove the obstructions and that Mr. W. Signal had offered to carry out the work. ' i ' The Board thanked Mr. Signal for his offer and instructed that the, : company be notified of the ai rangements „ The mysterious disappearance ot 11 sacks of bran, allegedly shortlanded from the Kennedy iyas the basis of a claim for £7 6s 3d made by the Manawatu Mills, Ltd. A feature of the protracted correspondence was the presence ot an extra bag of pollard on the company’s bills. The matter it to bo further investigated. It was anounced that Mr. Hugh Akers had made a present of n grab dredge to the Board, which returned thanks.