ROHA BRIDGE DOMAIN

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4443, 31 July 1909, Page 4

ROHA BRIDGE DOMAIN

[VERNMENT ENGINEER’S REPORT THEREON.

Manager of Tourist ■ Health Resorts (Mr 0. R. j forwarded to the Bo- j Council dopy of report of. at Rotorua. .It j remembered that a deputation j |Ed on the Hon. McKenzie during ■Been; visit to Te Aroha, regarding jßosals for planting and laying out ■)omdin. The Engineer (Mr L. visited Te Aroha on June 14th Hhis report reads : ■The Bridge Domain is an area of ■hou River as shown on the ■hed plan, and is crossed at one ■by the new traffic bridge which is Bed by timber girders and em-1 ■cment at a height of about 20 ■above the ground. The area is How-lying. About one quarter of it ■requently under water owing to ■lets in the river, and a large poris flooded once or twice per Bum. The water edge forming the Hr bank is higher and has only Hi under water once during many Ks past. The area is generally Bl grassed. It has a slight growth Bpanuka, and is bordered on the ■r side with willows, and on the Bn side by a bank about 10 feet Bb, planted irregularly with gums ■ pine trees. It is within a couple Biundred yards of Whitaker-street, B main street of the town, and is Berally in an excellent position for Belopment as a park or recreation Serve. A good view of it would be Sained from the traffic or railway Sdges, thus making its improvement Still more important matter. The lit obvious work is the running of a ■kin round the lower portion as ■own in the plan herewith, in order ■lower the water level to river level, nich would dry the swamp for the ■eater part of the year. This can be Ine at a cost of about £lO to £ls. lie main difficulty involved in imloving tho Rteseree in any way is of Kurse its low level. For some years lie town refuse was tipped into the >rthern end and was gradually filling up, but this refuse is now carted urther out to another tip, and this lethod of filling is no longer avail* >le. By excavating the main drain substantial width, say 8 t& 20ft,

nd converting the two lowest areas ito ornamental ponds, [’about 2000 übic yards of material would be vailable for raising the level of he remainder. Considerable portions ould thus be raised well above flood evel. To cart in material from outide, even although it is available in my quantity in fairly proximate posiions, would be quite prohibitive in jost, as at least four or five thousand jubic yards would be required, costing over Is per cubic yard. Another proposal has been made for raising the general level of the area by deflecting the creek just above the Waihou River down Boundary-street, so that the whole of the gravel and sand brought down by it is deposited over the reserve. I understand that in flood times enormous quantities of material is brought down by this stream, and I can quite understand that it is so; and if the natural rate of deposit of material were not fast enough, large quantities could be thrown info the creek higher up the mountain at a very low cost. The total length of new channel required, as shown in the plan, is only 180 yards, which with the neces3ary deflecting weir could be constructed complete for £l2O, provided it required no concrete or timber lining, which can only be determined upon opening up the ground. If it were found possible to make the creek keep its own channel by excavating a narrow drain and turning the water into it, this cost might be reduced by one half, but great care would be necessary to see that it did not get beyond the intended limits. If the channel were found to be through soft material that required lining, and I understand half of it is through such material, the cost would be increased by £IOO to £2OO to cover substantial 2 inch totara lining. Within a year or possibly less, I have no doubt this would enable Boundary" street to be graded down with an easy grading on to the reserve, and within two or three years, by judiciously depositing the material, I have no doubt portions of the reserve would be raised above flood level. In the meantime large numbers of native trees and shrubs should be planted on the reserve. The occasional flooding will not do them any injury. A large number, say 400 to 800, particularly of rimu, kauri, kahikatea, puriri, tawa, veronica (koromiko), pitisporum (xautawhiro) cabbage trees, etc., should be planted atonce, and the lower swampy portions with various varieties of flax. This planting could be carried out for £2O to £3O. The leveller portion, say an acre, might also be levelled, hairowed, rolled, and sown in grass, at a cost of £2O, A suitable recreation ground for football, cricket, etc., is a great desideratum within the town, the present football ground being a mile out, and fairly inaccessible, and this might be allocated on the Bridge Domain, in improving as proposed above. But a better site is already available in the Pound Paddc fir, shown on the plan herewith, lhis paddock has an area of acres, of which half an acre would be ample for the purposes of the Pound. By enclosing a portion of Boundary-street, as shown on the plan, which only gives access to the Bridge Bompin, this Pound paddock could be increased to four acres, which would be ample for several football areas, and would thus form a good recreation ground, and requh'ng very little levelling could be brought into service at a much lower cost than t iy

portion of the Bridge Domain. With regard to ways and means, the Bridge Domain has already been in the hands of the Domain Board, consist* ing of the members of the Council, for a little over a year, and is let for grazing at a rental of £lO per annum. The Domain Board, as such, have no funds, but as a Town Council they have power, under Sections 299 and 302 of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1908. to allocate portions of their district funds for such purposes, and if such funds with or without subsidy were available, I would recommend I that they be expended on the following works in the following order to the extent that the funds are available :—Excavation and formation of ponds, spreading material therefrom to raise level of other portions, forming paths and necessary rustic bridges, and planting edges of ponds with flax, etc., £4B; planting remainder of reserve with 600 native trees and flowering shrubs, £3O ; levelling, ploughing, harrowing, sowing, and rolling about one acre of leveller portion of reserve, £2o £96. Grading and forming main entrance from street, with gates and embankment, £22; fencing northern portion of reserve (15 chain of picket fencing, at £7 pei chain), £105; turfing and sowing sideß of new ioadw»y embankment, £7O ; deviating stream down street, in order to deliver material for raising the level of the Domain generally. £220. Towards these various im provements I consider that the usefulness of the Domain would not justify ac expenditure exceeding £225. That is sufficient to cover the first five items, and with this expenditure a very valuable addition would be made to the public convenience and attraction of the town.