RIVER CONTROL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 9, 22 October 1941, Page 6

RIVER CONTROL

INSPECTION OF THE AREA. VISIT BY THE MINISTER. CONFERENCE WITH COUNCIL To ascertain the extent of the work that will be required to be carried out ill the scheme for the clearing of the Hinds River, the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong), paid a special visit to the area to-day and discussed aspects of the work with County Council riding members and officials of the Council and with farmers whose properties have been subjected to flooding and seepage at times of heavy rain, The Minister was accompanied by the Chief Public Works Engineer (Mr W. L. Newnham), the District Engineer (Mr T. G. Becfc), and was met at Ashburton by the County Clerk (Mr G. Kelly), the County Engineer (Mr H. A. Vezey), and members of the Council from the southern areas of the trict.

The Minister proceeded to tlra Hinds River area as soon as he reached Ash u burton from Christchurch and conferred with the County Chairman (Mr 3. P. Taylor). He was met also by Messrs J. Cocks, G. H. B. Lill and J. H. Grigg, who represented the interested farmers when a deputation urging the carrying o,ut of the work went to Wellington recently. One of the objects of the Minister s visit was to try to arrive, at the piobable of the work and to discuss the amount of subsidy the Government will be prepared to grant toward the cost. * The Minister conferred with the Council at the County buildings tins afternoon after the party had had lunch. May Cost £30,000. Mr Newnham said there appeared to be a lot of work in the scheme. Unless the district was prepared to go on with the com ( p,lete work, it would not be worth while adopting half measures. Rough surveys showed that waterways 500 "feet wide in the lower reaches would be necessary, and that gave an idea of the money that the work would cost. Improvement could be given for £3OOO, but any work that would give the relief sought would cqst at least £20,000. The £3OOO would just cover the clearing of the bed of willows, gorse and broom, below the main highway only. Some of the upper reaches of the river were worse than those below. The full work might cost £3o,ooo—it could not be estimated without going into the figures. Stopbanking on alternate sides might reduce the cost.

The Minister said that the problem was complicated because some people would be affected by drainage and some by the river overflow. In reply to Mr J. H. Grigg, Mr Newnham said that a sum of £6OOO oi £7OOO would give great improvement in the bed of the river. Any scouring that would result from such work would not greatly affect the full scheme if it. was adopted later. The chairman said that he doubted if the ratepayers could undertake the full scheme at present. It would he a big help, if some improvement plan could he carried out in the meantime.

■ Mr Beck said that the opening up ol the fairway would not affect the peak of the flood, hut would permit the water to move more rapidly. Mr Nownham said that if £OOOO to £7OOO were spent, that money would not be wasted when a fuller scheme was taken up. Of course, it could be assumed that the subsidy on the river work would be at least as good as that on the drainage work. More Liberal Subsidy. The Minister said the subsidy would be more liberal for the. river work than for the drainage work. Mr M. S. Turton complimented the Minister on the speed with which he had put the survey work in hand in the upper reaches. He wondered if a scheme could be operated there. The Minister said he thought the proposed work could be done without going to Parliament. The position at Hinds was different from any other, in that the landowners owned the land right up to the river and oven under it. The County Clerk said that under the new legislation there was no barrier to the river work being carried out, but with the drainage scheme a poll of ratepayers would have to be taken, and probably nine months would elapse before the preliminaries were completed. Mr J. Montgomery said this was an important point and the work should bo begun before next winter. The Minister said it might be of advantage to, put up the stopbanks and leave the clearing in the meantime. Mr W. G. Gallagher said he thought the expenditure of £6OOO would meet the wishes of the ratepayers, but he was afraid that a £2o,Gj*7 scheme would not bo adopted, especially when it was added to- the drainage scheme. No control plan would be complete without taking ip the upper reaches of the river. .... . i The chairman said this was already under consideration by Mr Beck. The, Minister said that what lie had seen this morning was an education to him. He wanted to give all the help in reason, and the smaller scheme, the clearing of willows in the river it suit might be started. A subsidy of £1 for £1 would be available for that and lie would try to have it made more liberal. There were difficulties in not going on with all the scheme at once. When he went back to Wellington he would “put it up to the Government,” and point out that a bettor subsidy was being given in the case of the Ashburton River. He would put the case in as favourable a light as possible, as the work was important. The Department had tho machinery and could do the work more economically than the Council or contractors could. Some other job could be held up till the river work had been completed. The engineers

woro ready to start the work almost, immediately. . , The chairman thanked the Minister for the reasonable and frank way in which he had met the Council and the farmers. >Mr Taylor stressed the urgent need for opening the fairway at the bridges over the rivers, and asked u the work could he done. Mr N'ewnham said this question would be considered at the next meeting of the Main Highways Board.