EYRE-CUST RIVER DIVERSION

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25090, 23 January 1947, Page 3

EYRE-CUST RIVER DIVERSION

PROPOSED CLASSIFICATION AND RATING CRITICISED

“As our council sees it, the North Canterbury Catchment Boards proposed Eyre-Cust river diversion scheme will be of no benefit to the borough and will not affect it in anv way whatever,” said the Mayor (Mr C. W. Tyler) at a public meeting held in the Rangiora Town Hall last ev S2 ing - There was a g°°d attendance. The principal jobs in the scheme were the diversion of the Eyre river into the Waimakiriri river, and the diversion of the Cust river to the Eyre river; but nobody could say that water from either the Eyre or Cust rivers flowed into Rangiora during floods, continued Mr Tyler. The total cost of the scheme would be about £165,000, and local bodies concerned in it would be compelled to find £45.000 if the Catchment Board could obtain a £3 for £1 subsidy from the Government. The borough’s share would be £llOO a year for fotlr years (which would mean a very high rate), and a rate for maintenance would follow, probably for ever. “The Catchment Board proposes to do the work out of revenue without giving ratepayers a chance to refuse it, and we don’t think that is very democratic,” Mr Tyler said. “Of course, we are not against the scheme, but we are against the classifications imposed by the board, and having to pay the rate.”

Some people might say that Rangiora would get an indirect benefit by the improvement to the land outside the borough; but since residents were all taxpayers they were helping to pay for the scheme in the Government subsidy, Mr Tyler said. He added that ratepayers in the Rangiora Borough still paid for work done on the Ashley river, and when extra work was done on it it would have to be paid for. The Catchment Board's estimate for work on the Ashley next year was nearly twice that of last year, and the rate would be nearly double. All other local bodies concerned in the diversion scheme were in the Waimakariri river area, and it did not seem right that Rangiora should pay for two schemes.

“Most of the Rangiora Borough has been classified as D grade land, which will mean a rate of £1 5s 6d an acre, but we consider we should be in G grade land, which is non-rate-able. The only way to have the classifications altered is for every ratepayer to appeal. The matter will then become the subject of a magisterial inquiry, and we will have to abide by that decision,” concluded Mr Tyler. Urging every ratepayer to appeal against the classification, the town clerk (Mr J. M. Fraser) said it was quite likely that the Catchment Board’s rate would be considerably higher than the borough rate. He added that the classifications were really meaningless. In the Eyre County, where most of the work was being done, the rates would be Is 5d an acre, while the rate in Rangiora would be 22$ times greater. A motion endorsing the action of the council in calling the meeting, and advising every ratepayer to appeal against the classification, was moved by Mr C. J. Smith and carried unanimously.