MANAWATU OROUA RIVER BOARD’S SCHEME.

Shannon News, 24 August 1926, Page 4

MANAWATU OROUA RIVER BOARD’S SCHEME.

WILL HOROWHENUA CONTRIBUTE? DEPUTATION, TO COUNTY COUNCIL. Messrs W. S. Carter and P. E. Baldwin, acting in the capacity of a deputation from the Manawatu-Oroua River Board, waited upon the Horowhenua County Council at its meeting held on Saturday, to seek the Council’s support at the forthcoming meeting of local bodies to be held in Palmerston j North on the 24th of this month, con- | vened to discuss the proposals underly- 1 ing the scheme projected by the Mana J watu-Oroua River Board. j Mr. Carter said the Board was desirous of the Horowhenua County Council appointing delegates to the conference called for the 24th August, at Palmerston North, when the whole matter would be thoroughly investigated and explained. What the Council was mostly interested in was the feason for its citation to appear before the Commisssion. The Council was one of a lucky number —thirteen—cited as local bodies and whether the Council was interested, much or little, hardly mattered so far as that was concerned. The Board took the view that tills was' a very important step in the progress of th'o district concerned. Not only that but those outside, too. There wasj a very large area of country 2,’oing away through the Gorge, contributing water that went to make up the very dis- '» astrous flood recently. If the Board could split up the load of the, scheme in the manner it should, the actual load on the area contributing the flood watpr would bo (approximately) 5d per acre per annum—not - a very hard thing to bear. At present .it was not intended to bring in the whole'of the water-shed. It was realised, and acknowledged, that thd proposed scheme, running as it did into £450,000, was too big for the district immediately concerned, and if it had to bear the whole expense the job could not be doue. If it were not done,, the position, simply, was that the only Alternative they could see was absolute disaster. The Horowhenua County extended to Tokomaru, and very large works had been carried out j in the county by the Makerua Drainage Board, quite a lot of money being I spent, which considerably affected the position. All the same, the recent flood had proved that there still remained a danger of catastrophe, even with those banks. The margin of safety had not been sufficient to warrant it 'being left at that. If this project were not carried out, extensive banking would have to be individually promoted in small areas like Moutoa, Kairanga j and Oroua, in order to give themselves j the necessary protection. The Council! would remember that the countryside had' been dangerously clos’o to disaster during the last flood. In 1902 there had been 22 feet of water at the Fitzherbert (Palmerston North) bridge and in this flood there was only 14 feet of water there, but it was coming through at a greater velocity. That was only two-ithirds of the flood that was possible. .Should this competitive banking go on, the Horowhenua County must be very largely concerned. If the localities mentioned above erected their own banks, it meant that each body would have to enormously raise its rates. That was not a state of affairs they (the Horowhenua County) would like, to see eventuate. The scheme had been very extensively tried out, surveys and levels taken, and everything considered, and the Board contended that its scheme, would provide maximum benefit to the district. Ivoputaroa would be a very important section in the scheme. The main channel through Moutoa was to be assisted by a minor channel, coming in somewhere about the Ivoputaroa cut, whilst .the present river distance of 56 miles from Longburn bridge to,the sea, would be reduced to about 22 miles. Tire water would get out to sea without doing any damage. At Makerua the bank broke, and the margin in some places was only a matter of inches. Had there been two or three more feet ofwater, much more damage would have been done. With competitive banking at, say, Kairanga or Oroua, the river water had to pile .up somewhere as it could not get out. The whole scheme, was designed to deal with a flood 10 feet bigger than one that had ever been known, and the Ivoputaroa and Makerua areas were principally interested. If the ratepayers in these districts spent their money in banking and periodical rc-stocking of their farms, after the stock had been drowned, the country would not be so remunerative as if the areas were rendered floodproof, and the River Board was constituted so as to do the best possible for ratepayers. One of the most important aspects of the project was that the scheme was a national one—everyone had put his hand, into his iioekct in order to assist people in the regions seriously damaged by water, whilst the Government had rendered assistance to the extent of some hundreds of thousands of pounds. The idea was that if they could get the Government to assist them in doing part of the work that would prevent this damage being done, it would be better than asking the Government to assist in alleviating distress caused by floods. Mr. Baldwin said that the main object of the conference was to get the iocal bodies together and in line in one respect —to urge the national aspect of the proposal. With regard to what was likely to be paid by each contributory body, the speaker said lie proposed' to draft for ' the Horowhenua County Council a statement of all the benefits which the Board considered

would accrue, so., that the Council’s solicitor and engineer would know what they had to meet. Contributions would be .proportionate, not a lump sum. It had been suggested that if the Horowhenua County Council, or any other local body, had to find a proportion, the whole of the. loan would be raised by the River Board by a longdated loan (probably 50 years), the local body paying a flat rate, which represented its contribution, interest and sinking fund. As to the effect of the scheme of drainage, the engineer (Mr. F. C. Hay) would stake his reputation that the tidal water would come up as far as Rangiotu, whereas at present it came up to the Poplar Mill. It was anticipated that the river at Rangiotu would be five, if not eight, feet lower than at the present time. The chairman (Cr. Monk): What length would the artificial cut be, Mr. Carter ? Mr. Carter replied that in going through the river as well, it would be 11 miles J(kom the sea to Poplar Mill. At the spfct where the cut is to take off there was a bank seven feet higix that was broken at the last flood, and a channel 11 chains long, four feet deep and 50 feet wide was created, and had the river risen a further two or three feet, fhe water would have gone right over the Moutoa. The chairman said there was one thing he had not understood in Mr.. Baldwin’s statement. It had been suggested that iu the allocation of the cost, possibly a flat rate would be spread over the county. The county was a local'body, and so was the River Board. Did Air. Baldwin suggest that, possibly, after receiving a contribution as a local body, the River Board would have rating power to raise a loan as well ■over any particular areal Mr. Baldwin stated that was so. Tire chairman said this would moan that ratepayers would be rated three times. If those not deriving any direct benefit contributed to the scheme, it would certainly lessen the cost to those more directly interested. It had always appeared to the speaker that this was an undertaking that served a num-

ber of counties aud boroughs, and that the scheme could not be completed unless it was placed upon a national footing. Air. Baldwin then said that Mr. Hay estimated the maximum arnouut which the land could pay at the present time on a commercial basis/was one-third of the estimated benefit of the work.. The chairman: Has he taken into consideration what has already been loaded on the land? Mr. Baldwin: That will be considered by the commission. The chairman replied that the County felt somewhat in the dark as to its liability or otherwise. The County would be represented at the commission enquiry, but it would, like to be in a position to state its cas'e. He assured Air. Baldwin that the Horowhenua County Council would give its support in making this scheme a national one, if that were possible. Cr. Ryder said he would like to know what width the proposed cut would be, whether provision had been made for erosion, and the attitude taken by Aloutoa land owners. Mr. Carter replied that the banks would be a quarter of a mile apart, whilst outside would be plantations of willows to a width, one each side, of 100 yards, leaving 200 yards of clear waterway I for the river. The Council could rest j assured that the scheme had been well .] thought out, and the Board had been fortunate in securing one of the foremost civil engineers in the Dominion, while provision had been made for anything that was at all likely to occur. The work would take about five years to complete. In, conclusion, Air. Carter said that, undoubtedly, a large number of- people outside the area would get a vast benefit arising out of.this work, and as it was quite impracticable to bring those people within the area, the Board ' was citing only the local bodies in the ; immediate vicinity, and it was hoped 1 that the Board would bo backed up to such an extent that' the others would feel they had a duty in helping .the scheme, lie thanked the Council for f having heard him and; Mr. - Baldwin,

and' assured the Councillors that the Board would be pleased to furnish any information having a bearing OH the Board’s scheme. The deputation then withdrew. Or. Kilsby contended that before the Council made any definite stand in the matter they would need to give it very full consideration. He understood that an objecting deputation from ratepayers of the Manawatu-Oroua River Board’s district had waited upon the Government, and there seemed t(J be a large number of people up against the proposal. Undoubtedly the scheme was one of the largest undertakings known in the Dominion—it was supposed to be costing £450,000, but it would, in all probability, cost double that amount, if previous works of a similar nature were to be taken as a criterion. The chairmap said the last remark of Cr. Kilsby’s.' rvas not quite correct. Cr. Oatiey said a wide view should be taken of the matter. Undoubtedly the scheme was going to be of benefit by making highly productive land more productive and safe. Farming lands were already rated in some eases more than they could bear, but all must make some sacrifice in a scheme of this sort. : Cr. McL'eavey said he thought the land that -would benefit should carry the burden. : He would strongly resist liis property and tlic other land in the southern part of the County being rated as it would receive no benefit. The chairman said it was his idea that they should fight for the exclusion l of the County as a local body, but . agree to the inclusion of the lands benefited. Cr. Catl'ey said the whole thing was impossible if only the land contiguous to the works was to be rated. Cr. Jensen: These people, it appears to me, are asking us to contribute towards a scheme that is going to benefit some of the best land in Now Zealand, and make it absolutely free from floods, and at our expense. lam going to fight it tooth and nail. There is not the slightest doubt but that we shall be asked to contribute to a proposal which will put thousands of pounds into the pockets of certain individuals. The chairman: I don’t think the land will have any value—it will all belong to the River Board. Cr. Jenseii: It is a most absurd position. The chairman and Crs. Ryder, Barber and Kilsby were deputed to act as delegates for the Council at the forth-, coming conference in Palmerston on the 24th of August, and to act as a committee to arrange for the County’s case to be put before the Commission.