THE RIVERS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18140, 1 August 1924, Page 11

THE RIVERS.

PROPOSED CONSERVANCY BOARD. ; . PUBLIC SUPPORT. ! "-The proposal to establish a Co.nscr.TI ancy Board to take control of the rivers j Avon and Heathcote and to effect navi- ! gation and scenic improvements was ; considered at a public meeting held in : the City Council Chambers last nigh-. i Tho Mayor of Christchurch (Mr J. A. I Flc'shcr) presided, and others' present j included the Mayors of Sumner and. j Xcnr Brighton, and representatives of: I various local governing authorities, and j the rowing, sailing, and motor boating j clubs. There was also a good attendj ancc of citizens interested in the' mat- | tcr; of Tiver. improvement. | During recent weeks a sub-comrait- ! tea, constituted at a previous meeting, have had under consideration tho drafting of a local .Bill, for presentation to Parliament, to give a legal status to the proposed new body and to endow it with all powers requisite ti carry out the objects desired. The proposed Bill wa s presented to tho meeting. The Bill will be known as the Christchurch Rivers Conservancy Act, and will include the Greater Christchurch area, and the control of tho rivers Avon and Heathcote from their sources to the sea will be vested in the Board, j The Board shall havo power to raise a loan for the. purpose of purchasing plant anil acquiring waste lands; and the Board's revenue will be obtained 'by way of a levy, which shall not exceed £IO,OOO per annum. Whilst the latter amount, has been named in the j Bill as the limit of the amount the Board may levy in any one year, it is expected that if the' plant is provided for by a loan, that £3OOO will bo ample for the Board's annual .requirements. The valuation, of the area is £25,000,000, and it.is claimed th.at.the benefits 'to/- bp .derived will be:—(1) j Better, drainage; (2).' development of } the waterways;. (3) many schemes oil beautifying. which will be made possible once the rivers arc cared for, cleaned out, and direct access given the city through her rivers to the sea; (4) there'would bo built up an asset of great potential value, in tho' way of the lands, that are, worthless to-day, which, will, be reclaimed and improvedThe' Mayor said the. committee- bad put in some hard and. prolonged work to prepare the rep.ort. : for. the meeting. There was a .deep, interest on the- part of the. people of the Christchurch district in the "welfare of the. two rivers, which should constitute the greatest asset any city could possess. ■ 'lt-waa a.mattcr.of concern to notice the manner in which the two . rivers had depreciated during the last fifty year 3. The rivers • were becoming, nothing, but unsightly ditches, that • result being largely due , to the . deposit of. silt and sediment. .In the past 'the .-.Avon was a, .clear,- dcep ; flowing. riv„e.iy and steamcr£i ..weie.able 'to- ,run,.-tri,p v s. between, the "city, and/ JNew ; Brighton,., With .proper'"treatment, the /rivers/; could *berestpred/to, their original usef illness and beauty, .and ' it behoved ..all'-. to 'do what they could to encompass that result. The Drainage -Board ■. had carried out its primary duties most. suy-\; cessfuily,. but the Board,-did/not con-., sider- its ..operations should be _ extended to improving the,rivers, ( h,encc the.present prppflsal tft establish -a, Conservancy , :Board. ' T-hiec, enuncn't : investigated the. problem, and consider- ; ed--that.all improy.pments;.desired could , bo effected.by dredging and the building of weirs at certain, spots.-. Dredg- , ing seemed.to be the only solution,.of the present,.trouble in. relation -to tile = rivers. Had''the rivers been located, in other centres in New. Zealand thos/):, cities'-■Would''- long-'.ago" have 'ihado' the rivers a big and useful asset. The : Drainage Board had'a vast amount of-work-ahead.;, of- it <£. or ; - some ...years to corner The city was vitally interested in- the matter, 'for fully 90 per cent, of the'-• cost of -improving the rivers would; fall-on-.the city. ,- The >ivcrs,' however,.passed;through the territories .of other local authorities, and it was considered better, in the interests of all parties,-that' a new Board should be" created. Consequently that idea was incorporated in-the 8i11..--. It would be .necessary, however, for everybody t.o work together to realise r tju>, vision of a beautiful river', in a beautiftilcity. The c6raitiittee : estimated-that -not iriorc than £IO,OOO a.year would be required to" carry out the "necessary work,' and, Tvith the.largo rating;area 'proposed,' a rate of •• 8s 4d - a year on' a property valued 1000 would be' sufficient-if the/full levy was wanted. . THo mibcommitte'e had viewed whole matter from every point of view, sidered that... a Conservancy Board shoUld-'bo .created/to.. c/pntrol the riyerS from the.:'sOiirce'a;/.to .-.the ''s?a,' together with' tho- :t'ri,b! utarics. /sf/'thq/'Avpn, and Horseshoe jakc./' '/It/was''aTso proposed' that the banks' and'tow paths/should .be, vested in the Board. .The district pro-,' posed included the city, the Boroughs of Riccartou, /New Brighton, and Sumner, and partg of. the Waimairi, HalsweH, and BTca'thcptjCi.Counties, and possibly a small piece of Papanui. County. Tho Board: wouid consist of seventeen members, comprising the Mayors of the city and vthc tlireciborouglis," and tho chairmen of the Heathcote, Waimairi, and Halswcll County. Councils', • and.. the chairman of/,the; Drainago Board. Iu addition, there would be eight members appoihicd.-by the City. Council, and one by the JDrainage Board. Tho Mayor of Christchureh would be chairman of the Board. Finance \vbuld be secured by means of levies on the contributing bodies," and the'amount of the' levies would be fixedby the Board; The levy..-would.be limited to, £IO,OOO • per annum/ and 'the leyy'on the Draih-' ago Board -would-Jiot,exceed £looo per annum, for with the new Board the.Drainage-Board, would. b.o relieved of its present work./Jin .'"keeping , the rivers clpar. . Special provision was made to .secure dhe continuance of tht; lights of the"Drainage Bpard and .to safeguard -the interests..of that Board-. An endoayour should be made to get into line all tlie local bodies' affected; for unanimity 'was necessary, and, alt petty jealousies should bo avoided. It was encouraging . to. find, that loeal bodies were supporting, the" scheme for the improvement of sthcjivers. . Thero • was no. desire -to.-do.anytlting>burden-' some 'to -^any' lpeah authorities. ■•■■ Onlr those" to. derive"a. : be ; ex;-" pected t'o'-'assist-'iti tlie finance. ■' The' Hon. G. W. Russell movcdl"This meeting approves of the Bill as outlined by the" Mayor."' He said there were Parliamentary-difficulties to overcome before the Bill could beoomo law during" the present"Bcssiori. tain of the Standing Orders would have" to be y waived, and/*"tb'«i-e; shpiild. ' 15c'"'no oppositibti ffonf loxrirl, or conu"try members/ It" might be' necessary \o~ "send- ' u. delegation - to; the ' House to cnlisfthe solid support of; the Cauterburv, members. It might .be possible to get tlie Goyernnient.to take the Bill Up as a Government measure, but before that could be done thero_ should be a sentiment of local unanrmitv regarding the Bill. . He trusted, 'tfrefeforV'-ihat'" no opposition would :be shown to the Bill, and was glad to hear the conciliatory references to the Draia.-

ago-Board made by. the Mayor. Tho ; question of the estuary was so huge ; that the committee 'were not prepared ! at the present time to carry out anv j extensive works there. The idea of I the coniciittee was to make the two j rivers things of beauty. No other eitv ; in Xcw Zealand possessed such a glorij ous asset as the two rivers of Christ- | church, The new Board was not to be ;:i rati ig body, but would secure its j finance by levies as the Domains Board did. Tor the first five years he estimated that the amount of monev required would not be more than "from £SOOO to £7OOO per annum. In addition to the levies, the Board would in time possess another source of revenue from license fees and rents, and in time the levies could be materially reduced. He hoped the meeting would reappoint the present committee, or enlarge it, and authorise, that committee to enlist the support of the various public bodies. Everything -svould be done in a straightforward mariner, and it was hoped that no opposition would be forthcoming. A lliver Conservancy Association should bo formed to assist the movement. A membership of at least 0000 should easily be obtained, and that would concentrate a vast power of public opinion in favour of tho improvement idea. The new Board would have borrowing powers, but thero was no idea of embarking upon any extravagant scheme-of works-to be paid by loans. The motion was seconded by Mr A. F. Wright, who said the value of the river from a rowing point of view had been lessened year by year, and would .soon become impossible for rowing unless something was done without delay. He hoped that any criticism directed against the Bill would be of a. constructive nature; also that a public spirit for the good of the city would be created, as was the case in Auckland. If unanimity wcro achieved, the Bill would pass. Mr IT. IT. Holland objected to any idea of establishing weirs in the river. lie said that such action wonld only accentuate tho subsoil water difficulty. The Mayor said it was not proposed at present to put weirs'in the river. . Mr Holland said the bed of the river .should be deepened, but no weirs should be built to raise the .lev.el of the water. He would support.the Bill, for ho realised; what the rivers might become with proper treatment. '' A gentleman present said that the dairy farms towards the lower reaches of tfrc river would become water-logged and unusable if " the river was not deepened. The,river was filling up fast, and the subsoil water was increasing. The Drainage. Board should welcome the scheme for improving the river. .The Hon. G..W. Russell said the,prosent campaign Had-not been entered •upon .with the idea of stifling industrial activities near the Heathcote river. No more than the statutory powers to prevent pollution of rivers would v bc exercised. Mr B. J. Hobbs, captain of the Canterbury Bowing Club, emphasised the importance of a good river.course for .'the encouragement of rowing and rowers. In reply. to a "question, the ; Mayor said tlie Board would have power to purchase land for reclamation or filling up. An arrangement could also be made with owners of low-lying land to deposit spoil on'such land % Any borrowing proposals prepared by the Board; would have to go to the. ratepayers for sanction; a.ndrio money ; could' be borrowed without' the' consent of the ratepayers affected.',/. . / '..,'.'. Mr Kussell's' motion "was carried unanimously, and a committee was appointed to' arrange for the presentation of the Bill to Parliament, and to seek the co-operation; and. support, of -the •loeab authorities affected by tho ' creation of the Board and river district,."Mr TV Curtis,- of New Brighton, said Hiero "waa'ah-'irrtpression- that -if dTedg- •) jiig.waß~staft.ed,it would have -to" beacon-', tinned. He * believed,- however,' if thfe course was wbll.dredged and the lower, channels straightened there would-bo no occasion for-further dredging of /any consequence. The river, with tho free flow .of;, the. water," would keep itself .The Hon. G. W. -Russell _ moved: "That the question' of. establishing a Rivers Conservancy./a'if'd,'Development Association in Ghristchurch and ; 'tho surrounding districts be referred to the committee for . consideration and action." .- : This : was carried. The Mayor thanked Mr A. P. Wright for his services in framing the' Bill, and expressed the hope that the .meeting that night would mark the beginning of a new. era in the history of the local rivers. '■'..'- A vote of thanks to the Mayor closed the meeting. ' ' .■.r ■