WAIMAKARIRI RIVER.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18398, 3 June 1925, Page 6

WAIMAKARIRI RIVER.

MEETING -OF* TRUST. A - meeting - of' .'the., "Waimakariri River Trust'wis held, yesterday.' J. Wood (chairman), J.-.Leslie,: F; Gi Horroll,'J. H. Blackwell.'R. O. Dixon arfd A. Manhire. , '■' '•-.'•?.' '",.'';- The financial statement showed that ■ there had.'been a credit .balance oi. £5733 lSs lid on April 2ist,. and that since then £791 14s 2d had been aeceivcd as" rents', making a total of i 65-/5 8s Id.' Payments made and-authori-sed amounted to £1746 Bs' €d, leaving a credit balance at'MayjaXh ofi£477S 19aed. The 'overseer HMr; T. Jeal) reported_that since "the- previous of the Trust there ha.d teen three'small/.foods in the WaimaJtariri, but. no damage wae done to the -works,' and 'no 'alteration in. the course of the river. A stop bank. to form the combination of the new' bank : ,«t ■ Chaney b had been ,«rected, and'the work cf raising the old bank lift to ,be on the same grade as the new one, had been completed. On the north uank, No! 8 had been completed, and No. 7 groyne-was practically .finished.. This niade' the put in on the north bank. Contracts, for step-banking had made-progress ns follow':—"A"..contract, 52 chains; "B" contract, 50 .chains;■, ".C contract, 25 chains'. - The contractors were working very satisfactorily. During this month a» stnrt would Le -made with No-11 gToyrie,' which' would be .11* chains long from the stop-bank, and .would cross one large stream, requiring 40CO cubic yards. This groyne would be the most difficult of all to get in. ... "' : ," , " ~ About four miles cf the river bank coma be planted with willows .this year, if the works were fenced off .from, stock. Planting wouldbe useless if fencing were not.put ui>. The overseer suggested that the Trust shoulfd buy, if -possible,, a etrp from trie river bank-to 'half'a chain behind the slon-bankv. 'This would' tofce m about 260 acres. It could be planted .with Pinus Insignia, and -reclaimed "lend iii the riverbed , with- willows: The groynes already in were doing good'work, and if planted between would make ■a• perfect -protection.. Good-progress had not been • made with, the wotlc on tho main drain at F'axton,-owing ■to .the height cf the water. - Good work was being done with the pulilng of the willows out of the • Cam v which had lowered the water considerably, The work, would be completed in aboiit.two weeks', time. .. , The" "report '"was adopted. The chairman stated that the groynes that had been put. in to . date .were thoroughly sound and satisfactory,- according U> the plans, and the cost wae within the Trust s estimate. Mr Hay, .the Trust's consulting engineer, was - 'very pleased with 'the way the work ha"d been carried out. -• ■• The! chairman' and Messrs Hoirtf and Machiro, were appointed a committee to confer with tho owner of- the land concerned in the overseer's suggestion that a piece should be obtained for planting purposes. The chairman and Manhire wero authorised to epcuire into the work being done for the' City Council by student-* at Otarama, nnd to mako a grant towards it if the- thought it , desirable. " ■ The'Malvem CcKinty Council was'gTanted permission to take .shingle from five different cuttings.-" ' _. - In replv.to o. reouest .from Mr H-. J. »• Miller asking that'his time for the completion of 'av contract' should be extended, it was decided to reply .that .the matter would be favourably,, considered when the contract was completed. -