Catchment Board Rejects Claim For Lost Boat

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30279, 4 November 1963, Page 9

Catchment Board Rejects Claim For Lost Boat

A claim lodged against the North Canterbury Catchment Board for the loss of a boat at the mouth of the Styx river was declined at a meeting of the board. The board’s chief engineer, Mr H. M. Reid, said he had made inquiries and employees had told him that if it was necessary to move a boat out of the way of the dragline the boat was securely moored again. As far as he knew no one had ever given boat owners authority to moor their boats there.

“Are these not public matters? Why should we go into committee?” asked Mr E. J. Stalker when the chairman (Mr R. M. D. Johnson) had said the board should go into committee to discuss the Upper Cust and also a petition from Cust Valley ratepayers.

Mr Johnson said that anything in public before it had been reported on was wrong. Mr J. M. Pickering said there were special circumstances and the matters to be discussed were only in the preliminary stages. Hie board went into committee.

In reply to a question by Mr F. L. Wright on the proposed new bridge across the

Waimakariri river, Mr Johnson said it had been referred to the chief design engineer. Ministry of Works, and in due course it would come back.

A clause in the report of the rivers control committee said the Soil Conservation Council had approved an additional grant of £3OO for experimental jetting work at Lake Ellesmere by the Ministry of Works.

Mr Reid said it was thought something could be done to move gravel by jetting and the experiment was being carried out to see how fast and how far ttie gravel could be shifted.