MANAWATU-OROUA RIVER BOARD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3507, 6 July 1926, Page 2

MANAWATU-OROUA RIVER BOARD.

PROTEST AGAINST PROPOSED EXPENDITURE. A meeting of ratepayers interested in the Manawatu-Oroua River District Commission of Inquiry, was held in Palmerston North on Saturday, Mr. A. Guy presiding. The meeting was convened by Messrs R. Tanner, A. Guy, D. Rowlands and M. Voss.

The chairman said no one present seemed to know exactly what the commission was supposed to decide, and the position seemed a very general one. The ManawatuOroua River Board was formed some years ago, and a strong petition had twice been sent to Parliament, asking that the Board be abolished. This petition had been signed by 173 residents, almost one-half, and many more signatures could have been obtained. In spite of this, the Government had set up the Commission, no doubt to decide whether the work of straightening the river was practicable, and if so, of allocating the cost. Three men had been appointed to the Commission —Mr. 'Watson, S.M., of Feilding, a land agent of Wellington, and an engineer of Auckland. The average ratepayer, he continued, did not bother about the matter, and thought there was no harm in it. The local bodies should be stopped from borrowing these huge sums of money, for they w r ere absorbing all available capital and making it hard for farmers to obtain financial assistance. The only way to choke the commission was to arouse public interest, and in his opinion the best way to do this, was to form an Association. A further meeting could then be held in about a fortnight’s time. The petition had not been presented to Parliament, because it had been addressed to the, Governor-General, instead of the Speaker. It was quite apparent that little consideration would be received from the Reform Party, so he would suggest that either Mr. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, or Sir Joseph Ward, be asked to take up the cudgels on their behalf. Some move would have to be made soon; in fact, a protest should have been made in the first place against .the Board being formed. The duty of the meeting was to arouse public opinion. A Kairanga ratepayer, Mr. C. Albe, said he was on flooded land, and had been Iboking forward to the River Board doing something. He would not vote against it; in fact, he was strongly for it. Mr. Guy said Ire quite understood Mr. Albe’s attitude. The matter was a fight between those on the flats and river banks and the other fellow.

Mr. R. Tanner (Longburn): It is all very well to have the River Board, but what are we likely to have to pay? If they start borrowing money, goodness knows where it is going to stop. Mr. Albe: I think it would cost us a great deal niore to light the Makerua River Board for damage done, than to pay for our own Board. Mr. F. W. Verry (Kairanga) asked what the cost was likely to be? Mr. Guy said the valuation of the area concerned was £3,000,000, and there were 44!) ratepayers. It was proposed to raise practically a third of this sum for river works. Mr. Tanner: They say it will cost £600,000 but I find that usually these things cost about twice as much as was originally estimated.

Mr. Guy said all the farmers except those on the banks and in the swamps, were convinced that it was hopeless to attempt to -check the river.

Mr. Tanner said he had never lost a hoof of stock through floods in twenty years, and even if he were to lose an occasional animal, it would be better than paying rates for the rest of his life. After some further discussion, Messrs R. Tanner, D. B. McEwan, R. D. Knight, A. Sutherland and A. Guv, were apopinted a deputation to wait on the Kairanga County Council, the Manawatu-Oroua River Board, and the Palmerton North Borough Council, to ventilate the matter and to report at a further meeting which will be held at Palmerston North on Saturday week.