Ministers to see damage

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33965, 4 October 1975, Page 16

Ministers to see damage

(Parliamentary reporter)

WELLINGTON, October 3. Christchurch suburban areas damaged by slips and flooding in August will be inspected tomorrow by the Minister of Works and Development (Mr Connelly) and the member of Parliament for Lyttelton and Minister of Health (Mr McGuigan). Among the areas the two Ministers will visit are Lyt-

telton, Sumner, Redcliffs, Mount Pleasant, and Hillsborough. Mr McGuigan said today that it was necessary to assess the position of residents affected by the flooding and slips, now that the situation was more or less back to normal. It was too easy, he said, once a crisis was past, ro overlook the causes and. therefore, do nothing to prevent it from recurring.

“I stand by my earlier remarks,” Mr McGuigan said. “The drainage system serving the hillside suburbs is 20 [years behind the times. Exlisting suburbs on the hills and at the foot of them are increasingly threatened, as a result, by continuing residential development on the hills. “The failure of local authorities to plan in an orderly and efficient manner and. in particular, to make adequate provision for stormwater disposal puts more ; householders each year to expense and inconvenience, inot to mention the anxiety I caused by flood and slip crises.” Mr McGuigan said.