RECLAIM SWAMP

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 215, 11 September 1945, Page 6

RECLAIM SWAMP

PROJECT IN WAIKATO

AREA OF 100,000 ACRES

A hundred thousand acres of swamp land around Hamilton, which are the cause of many Waikato fogs, may be converted into first class farming land as a result of a major engineering project now being investigated by the Waikato Regional Planning Council. This land, at. present waste, is well placed in relation to road and rsl\ facilities, and is within 80 miles of Auckland city.

A report and recommendation will be made to the Government for the development of the area, said Mr. H. D. Caro,' Mayor of Hamilton and chairman of the Regional Planning Council, in addressing Auckland and Waikato members of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers at Hamilton.

Other large scheme were in the planning stages or were contemplated in the Waikato, stated Mr. Caro, and he declared that maximum use would be made of engineering guidance.

He commented on the acute shortage of qualified engineers in the Dominion, and said that New Zealand engineers had won high praise for their skill and knowledge, both before and during the war. An extremely versatile type of engineer had been developed in the Dominion, and as a result New Zealand engineers were much in demand overseas. Many engineering graduates, who found opportunities restricted and remuneration poor in the Dominion, had, therefore, accepted permanent posts abroad. "This situation, serious enough in the past, is almost disastrous to plans for expansion and rehabilitation in New Zealand," said Mr. Caro, "and immediate action is needed to establish standards of remuneration which wjll attract larger numbers to the profession and keep them in the Dominion."

He made a strong plea for the early. expansion of the Auckland University School of Engineering. New Zealand, in the fairly near future, would, he hoped, have double its present population, but the supply of engineers was inadequate even for present needs. Recognition of engineers was, however, growing and they should shortly come into their own.