SWAMP DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3908, 16 February 1929, Page 3

SWAMP DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL

MEETING OE DRAINAGE BOARD RATEPAYERS. A (meeting of .Moutoa Drainage Board ratepayers was held in the supper-room of the Town Hall on Tuesday evening. There was a fairly good attendance, and the Board chairman, Mr ..J. Chrystall presided. URGENT MATTERS OUTLINED. The chairman accorded a welcome to those attending, arid stated it was over 12 years since a similar meeting had been held. The speaker then outlined several urgent matters requiring attention in the Board's area. Dealing with floodgates, he stated that some years •ago the Board had erected two additional flood gates vertically hung on the Main Drain. These gates had proved vastly superior to the doors horizontally hung. It was now proposed to provide two more doors on the Main Drain, and also ' swamp level flood-gates at the Duck creek outlet and other suitable places. This work was rendered necessary to allow the water to escape rapidly during floods. He advocated a small loan] of £IOOO to carry oht the work. Mr. W. Barber (chairman of the Manawatu County Council), stated that he had interviewed the authorities of the Main Highways' Board in this connection. He had stressed the importance of keeping the main highways open for traffic. He was of the opinion that the Government would assist to provide additional outlets in the Whirokino area.

Mr. R. Heppner supported the proposal, provided the ratepayers could get rid of the River Board rate.

Mr. F. Woods also strongly advocated more outlets to relieve the lands at flood time. LOAN PROPOSAL FINANCED. The chairman roved: That the Board take steps to raise a loan of £2OOO. £IOOO of this sum to be used for flood-gates, and the balance of £IOOO for stop banks.

Dealing with stop banks the chairman stated that about six years ago a petition of ratepayers was presented to the Board requesting that the Board take over ■all the stop banks from Foxton to the old Shannon bridge. This work had been held up partly by the ad-r vent of the River Board and partly by the opposition of a landowner with a long river frontage. He was in favour of taking over these •banks, repairing breaches, heightening where necessary to protect the land from all small floods. He believed that by expending the sum Of £IO,OOO the Moutoa area would be entirely free from 75 per cent, of the floods coming down the river. He further stated that it was useless attempting to build stop banks to keep out all floods. His proposal if adopted, would only entail a small rat© of 1/- per acre per annum plus maintenance. As a first step towards this end he advocated commencing at the old 'Shannon bridge site where a very dangerous position existed owing to the erosion caused by the river to the old stop bank. 'This bank, he said, had been built by the Manawatu County, but there was no hope of raising a loan ■by the County to erect a new hank as most of the ratepayers in the Awahou riding lived outside the fioodaible area. Mr. B. Gower said that he was in favour of the new banik at the old bridge site. Mr. W. Carter (chairman of the Manawatu-iOroua River Board) opposed the stop-banking programtoe and advocated the River Board’s modified scheee. The motion on being put was carried. RIVER BOARD’S MODIFIED SCHEME. The chairman then stated that the Drainage Board had received a letter from the River Board asking that representatives be appointed to form a deputation to wait on the Government for a £ for £ subsidy on the modified scheme. He said that the members of the. Drainage Board would ibe pleased to have an expression of opinion by the ratepayers on this question.. Mr. Carter gave a brief outline of the scheme, and after several other speakers had-expressed their views, the following motion was carried by a substantial majoiity: —“That this meeting endorses the resolution recently carried by the Drainage Board the substance of which is as follows: —That this Board oppose the River Board’s modified scheme owing to the probability of financial disaster to a district with limited resources through finished costs vastly exceeding estimates, and, further, that the scheme is incomplete as it does not make any provision for the necessary overhead bridging where the spillway is intended to cross two Main Highways. The Board suggests that a deputation wait upon the Government to bring forward a complete scheme, assess the land to be benefited for an amount it can safely bear, take a loan proposal, and if carried supply the balance of the money to the Public Works Department to carry out the work.” At the conclusion of the meeting hearty votes of thanks were accorded to Mr. Carter for attending, and to the chairman, for presiding.