Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1907.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43087, 2 May 1907, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1907.

Ihis above all—to thine own self be true , And %t must follow as the night the day Ihou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

The outlet for the Hungahunga drainage scheme has now been decided upon, and the Board at its meeting on Tuesday, fixed upon the Piraunui stream, as recommended by their engineer, Mr C. Otway. This decision will be welcomed both by the settlers on the Itangiatea Estate, through which the Waihekau stream passes, arffl also by settless on some of the adjacent land, A very great volume of water will be brought down from the Matamata end of the swamp, by the portion of

the Waihekau drain to the south of the unformed portion of Diagonalroad, and it is the disposal of this water that gave rise to a long discussion at the meeting on Tuesday. The engineer is of opinion that the Piraunui will be a far better outlet than the Waihekau, especially since the dimensions of the drain leading to the latter creek were considerably reduced by the Board in order to save expense. Although the engineer considered this reduction as unwise, those whom the stream affects will no doubt think quite the reverse. That the disposal of water in an unfair manner will surely lead to trouble and complaints, was emphasised by the engineer, who stated that when at the Chief Surveyor’s office in Auckland he was shown a pile of letters a foot high, consisting of claims that had already been sent in from the Rangiatea settlers in anticipation of such trouble. These Crown tenants contend that the Government’s grant of £2,000 towards the

drainage scheme, will, if the water is turned into the Waihekau stream, merely be a contribution towards flooding them out in the rainy season. The bone of contention between several members and the engineer, was the question of the advisability of diverting the Matamata water at a right-angle along the road for nearly a mile in order to turn it into the Piraunui drain, instead of continuing the water down its natural course to the Waihekau. The present plan is to make a break of two chains in the Waihekau drain, just below where the upper portion is turned at a right-angle eastwards into the pro-

posed Diagonal-road drain, and the general impression at the meeting appeared to be that if it was afterwards found necessary, this two chains of stop-gap could be cut through, a bridge placed on the road, and a proportion of the upper part of the Waihekau water allowed to continue in a direct line down the Waihekau drain into the creek. The

Rangiatea settlers will at any rate wish to feel secure from too great a quantity being thus turned down upon them after once the Piraunui has been established as an outlet. At any rate, the Crown tenants may rest assured that their interests are being well watched by the Chief Surveyor for the district, and that whatever he sanctions is not likely to be detrimental to their interests. If the Board, in contravention of their engineer’s advice, had fixed upon the Waihekau as an outlet, the Chief Surveyor would not be under the necessity of approving such a scheme if he was of opinion that the Rangia-

tea would suffer thereby. But it certainly would appear fair for the Waihekau to take a proportion of the water if it were afterwards found that the Piraunui settlers were suffering through their stream taking it all. The Board has been prompted j to come to its decisions somewhat'

hurriedly, in order to expedite the letting of the contracts, but the members have in all matters already brought under their notice, evinced the keenest interest, and have, brought their intimate knowledge of the district to bear in a most profitable way. We admire the friendly spirit in which the opposite opinions ' are received at the meetings—a desirable state which encourages free discussion and an arrival at the best

decision. The Board has as yet only let about one-third of the money value of the whole, but the completion of this first batch of contracts should prove a great relief to a number of settlers on the swamp.