TEE ACTON WATER RACE CASE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXIX, Issue 7826, 19 June 1909, Page 3

TEE ACTON WATER RACE CASE.

To the Editor. Sir,—l wish through your paper to make public the position of affairs between myself nnd the Ashburton County Council with reference to the Acton water .race. The race runs through niy property, and the Council took one chain of ground under the Public Works Act to carry out the work in question. On the 2nd of March last I attended at the Council's meeting and informed it that spoil had been deposited on mv property'over. a. chain wide. The matter was casually referred to the County Engineer (Mr Morrison) by Mr Harner, and on the statement that I was wrong, without any investigation being^ made, his word was taken against mine. Now, this is one of the. [ points at difference between this body and ; myself. After this interview, I figain. measured the distance from the centre of the race to the edge of the deposit of spoil, and found it was 49 feet wide, whereas they were only entitled to 33 feet from the centre. Mr, Lambie, in my presence, on one occasion also measured the distance from the edge of the drain. I again interviewed the Council on j the 4th instant, but they have not j made miblic the fact that I was right and Mr Morrison was wrong. The Council have done me wrong^in three ways: Firstly, by depositing the spoil, as explained above, over more than a chain width on my property; secondly, by cutting through my fencing , without notice and leaving the I same loose and unfit for retaining stock | in the for a considerable period; and, thirdly, .by taking the spoil from the property of one of my neighbours and bringing it back and depositing it on my land. Mr Lambie, on the opening of the irrigation channel, is reported to have aaid that the channel was 9 feet wide at the river and gradually reduced as: the water diminished. Now sir, my land is some considerable distance from the river, and the dimensions of: ■ the race there are 18 feet at the top and some 7 or 8 feet at the bottom. I fail to see how Mr Lambie's statement can be taken as correct under .these conditions. I do not wish to make any reflections upon, nor do I hold any animosity against, any individual member of the Council: but I wish to state clearly my position regarding this water race and let the public decide for themselves whether I have been fairly treated or not. Ido not intend to press the matter against the County Council, and thus make the ratepayers pay for the damage which has been done, but were there any means by which the contractors and the surveyor could be made, liable, I consider that these people are personally responsible for the loss which I have suffered.—Yours faithfully, JAMES CROY. Ashburton, June 19, 1909.