WAIKATO RIVER BOARD

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 8, Issue 472, 14 October 1919, Page 4

WAIKATO RIVER BOARD

Those Groynes Contradictory Decisions Relations between the Waikato Kiver Baard and the Department of Lands and that of Marine are still far from being amicable. Replying tj a letter from the Board in reference to the controversy over the groy»e3 at Aka Aka channel (previously chronicled in the Time*) the secretary of the Marine Department (Mr George Allport) wrote as follows, om - ? mouth ago: " 1 havo the honour, by direction of the Minister of Marine, to acthe receipt of your letter of 12th ult. in respect to proceedings taken against your Board for nonwuoval of certain groynes from the Waikato Kiver, and the stoppage of the payment of the Lands Department's grants to the Board. "Iu reply, lam to state that on further consideration of the matter it has boon decided to act as full .ws:

(1) " The legal action in conLexioo with tho groynes is not to be proceeded wirh further, but that it will not bo actually discontinued, and the Crown solicitor at Auckland has been instructed accouiitigly. {'2) "The Murine Dopartu ont will itself (tarry out the work of removing such groynes as arc injurious :o navigation. 3 " That an estimate of the cost of removal will be obtained, and a sufficient portiou of the money held back by tho Lands .Department will be retained for the purpose of defraying such cost. The balance will be paid over to the Board when the estimate of such cost is received." The above letter was read in conjunction with the following one, at the special meoting of the Board, held at Mercer on Saturday to consider lb position:

MANOATAWIIIKI AiTOl'XL' The Minister for Lands (Hon D. II Guthrie) in a later lotter dated 3id October, on tlisubsidy of £375 to bo paid into the Mangatawhiri account, in reply to a letter from the Board Mating that if tho money was not lorhcoinlng the Board would be obliged to stop all work immediately, advised as follows: "It would appear from previous reports that the Board had made improper use of other grants for the puipose of clearing of the Mangatawhiri stream It surely does not now require tunds for that particular purpose ! " With regard to a, request for payment of a sum of £273 spent bj the Buttra from the settlers' rates on clearing willows, etc. in various creeks of the Waikato River, and retained by the Department. 1 have to advise that until the groynes are removed as requested by the Marine Department, the money cannot be paid over." The chairman (Mr A. C. Glass) again demanded a public commission of inquny. The Board had already promised to remove any groynes objected to by the Aka Aka settlers. All the papers in reference to the groynes were previously sent to the laic Minister lor Lands (Hon. W. F. Masse v) but those wero now, strangely enough, not to be found. The Board's solicitor was unablo to procure thorn. There was something veiy peculiar about the whole ! uwEe.v;. Tho Board had agreed to resign and leave tho whole question to the now Waterways Commission povided the £o7o due wai paid to it. Ho refused to sign any further cheques until tho stopped money was paid. Tho Government had broken faith with tho Board light through Failing satisfaction, ihe bill of sale now ovor tho dredge and plant would bo put into effect, and the plant sold by tho bank. Tho Government had made a grant and then withdrawn it, which was a despicable trick. The docu-'

ments and proofs of the search in regard to the enquiry into the lands at Aka Aka (Mr Massey being a large holder) were forwarded by the then Minister for Marine (Hon. T. M. Wilfred) to the Department of Lands, as stated in the Minister's letter, and yet the Lands Department professed not to know where they were. As these documents were necessary in the event of a Supreme Court action, their disappearance bore a peculiar complexion. He believed that the Hon. Guthrie was misled by subordinate officials. It was also unsatisfactory that the engineer for tho Public Works Department was also engineer for the Marine Department. The clork (Mr E. Hallett read a letter from the Hon. W. F. Massey, dated, sth September, 1918, stating he had placed an amount of £750 on the Supplementary Estimates for the Mangatawhiri Creek drainage work.

Tho clork pointed out that £230 worth of debentures should be bought by tho Mangatawhiri settlers, who had already had the advantages of<tho Maramarua allotment.

It was finally decided on the motion of Mr I*. Honry, seconded by Mr M. Gallery, that Mr Prendergast ami Mr li. Lyons wire Mr Massey in couuoxiou with the £750 subsidy promised for Mang tawhiri drainage; and also drawing his attention to the current correspondence by the Minister fur Lands on the matter, and advising that if the money in question is not forthcoming at once, the work now stopped would have to be so permanently, and the dredge would have to be removed to the Railway bridge immediately while the ilood is on, for convenience of its sale by the bank.—Carried unanimously. The clerk stated that if the debentures were all taken up, and the subsidy granted, the Mangatawhiri settlers would have £3(!5 to work on after paying all dues, less the current month's wages. WAIKARE LAKE URAIXAGE. With reference to the clerk's wire to Mr R. F. Bollard (M.P. for Raglan), asking if the stop-banking onMaiamarua and Whangamarino creeks are to be proceeded with in conjunction with the Waikari Lake drainage, the Minister for Lands, (Hon. D. H Guthrie), stated that it was only the engineering surveys to demonstrate the practicability of lowing Lake Waikare that are being in hand. The Board considered that the effect of the above work, if carried out as suggested, would be to bring the whole of the drainage waters from the Waikare Lake into the Whangamarino creek, and from thence into the Waikato at Mercer. This, in addition to the flow from the Maramarua Creek, would greatly increase the already too large a volume of water to be carried by the river, and would thus tend to keep the low-lying lands flooded for even longer periods than at present. The fall from the Waikato to the Whangamarino creek is H feet. The letter went on to state that in regard to the reclamation of the Whangamarino swamp, tho work would largely bo a pumping scheme, and tho drainage branch of Lands Department would place an officer on tho scheme shortly. As a matter of fact the Waikare and Whangauiarimo schemes must be considered together. Tho above will be dealt with at the next general mooting. £l'.)U lGs Id i>Ehit. A statoinout from the Bank of Now Zoaland defined tho Board's tinancil position as follows : Ordinary account bebit, £lO3 13s 2d; bill of sale, £ION7 Os 6d; development of Flood Loan, £484 4s 6d; Mangatawhiri Loan, £231 t2s Id; Roto-Ngaro Loan, £.l 5s lOd. Total indebtedness, £l9ll lf»s Id.