THE ESTUARY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18676, 27 April 1926, Page 9

THE ESTUARY.

IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES. RIVERS CONSERVANCY COMMITTEE. A meeting of the Rivers Conservancy Committee was held yostorday in the Chamber of Commerce library. The following attended. —Mr W. H. Nicholson (Mayor of Sumner) chairman, Mr E. H. Andrews (City Council), Mr JGamble (Mayor of New Brighton), Messrs A. F. Wright, It. B. Owen, and B. Riley (Heathcote County Council). Mr Nicholson outlined the object of the meetiug, and said that it was a preliminary to the public meeting which was being held in the Chamber of Commerce Hall on Thursday ovening next to decido on tho steps that should be taken to continue the work of dredging the mouths of the Avon and Heathcote Rivers beyond the point where the Drainage Board's jurisdiction ended. Mr Andrews said that he was impressed with tho urgent need for dredging the Estuary, and so improving the sub-soil drainage of the city. Mr Owen stated that tho Estuary was some 11200 acres in extent, a veritable "no man's land," an asset this city scarcely realised she possessed. Steps should be taken to have this great playground vested in a Rivers Conservancy Board, and steps taken to dredge and reclaim many of the swamps and mud flats. Mr Wright said that he was somewhat disappointed that tbo committee did not proceed with tho Rivers Conservancy Bill last year. This embraced all the necessary powers of acquiring waste lands and reclamation along the river and the Estuary. Mr Riley said that the Heathcote County Council was greatly interested in the marshes of the Heathcote, which were a .menace to the health of tEe people of the district. Mr Gamble said that he was impressed with the idea of reclamation, which would be of particular service to New Brighton. A straighter channel for tho Avon out to sea would increase the scour of the river, and prevent the accumulation of silt. The following resolution was moved bv Mr Andrews, seconded by Mr Riley, and carried: "That the Christchurch Rivers Conservancy Bill be redrafted to suit the altered conditions, and that powers be sought to vest the Estuary in a Board of Control, representing the Christchurch City Council, New Brighton and Sumner Borough Councils, and Heathcote County Council." It was decided to ask tho Mayor of Christchurch to take the chair at Thursday's meeting, and to ask Mr W. J. Walter, chairman of the Harbour Board, to attend. It was decided to draw the City Council's attention "to the Waste oils and dyos that were now being discharged into the side channels of the streets and polluting the Avon. Mr Owen stated that the river below Colombo street was dyed blue at noon yesterday, to-day it would probably be red, and some other colour the following days, and it was no uncommon sight to see the water covered with a film of oil —waste from the city's motor garages.