Problem in council’s lap

Press, 18 September 1976, Page 4

Problem in council’s lap

Parliamentary Reporter

Wellington Decisions on erosion in the Hawkhurst Road area, Lyttelton, are now completely in the hands of the Lyttelton Borough Council, according to the Minister of Works and Development (Mr W. L. Young). Mr Young was asked by Miss C. E. Dewe (Nat., Lyttelton) in Parliament yesterday what steps he had taken to alleviate the problem, after her personal representations. “Last Friday (September 10), the District Commissioner of Works and the District Soil Officer, Christ-

church, visited the Lyttelton Borough Council and discussed the problem of soil erosion at Lyttelton with the Mayor, the town clerk, and the chief engineer,” Mr Young said. “The District Commissioner of Works had advised the Mayor of the national authority’s policy, and the procedures required $

for a remedy. The borough

council would now request the North Canterbury Catchment Board or the District Commissioner of Works to assist with planning and finance. The responsibility lay with the Lyttelton Borough Council,” he said. Labour members then asked about the origin of the inquiry. Was Miss Dewe responsible, or had it originated in an urgent question asked in Parliament by Mr N. J. Kirk (Lab., Sydenham)? Mr Young: To- my recollection, both members made representations on the same afternoon.