Bay drainage scheme a step closer

Press, 1 May 1981, Page 10

Bay drainage scheme a step closer

A drainage scheme for Le Bons Bay has become a step closer after a meeting of the Akaroa County Council held last week. Local and council contributions to the scheme were set and the council decided to ask the North Canterbury Catchment Board to begin work as soon as possible.

Recommendations were passed at the meeting to look after the drainage scheme by maintaining the drain and dam through the Mclntosh property, with a contribution from Mr J. Mclntosh; to kill weeds in the drain between Le Bons Bay Road and the beach frontage culvert, and ask owners to clean the drain where necessary; and to open the sea outfall after the spring tides and clear it when necessary in winter. The board would pay 30 per cent towards the maintenance, while the council must contribute the rest, said the County Engineer (Mr K. A. Paulin). A one-for-one subsidy to set up the scheme would be given by the board, which was now completing the plans.

Harbour committee In a report on the harbour committee’s meeting, Mr Paulin said that the Wainui slipway was seen by the committee as a top priority. The council passed a recommendation to include it in this year’s work, financed, it was hoped, with a $2OOO contribution from the Wainui Residents and Ratepayers’ Association and $3OOO from the Land Subdivision and Counties Reserve Fund.

A new slipway for Barry’s Bay would take the pressure off other facilities and so this was regarded as the second priority. The estimated cost was $l5OO, Mr Paulin said.

The harbour committee could not support the building of a boatshed on the foreshore of the Kaik, and Mr Paulin recommended to the council that the application be declined and that the present structure on the foreshore be removed. The recommendation was carried.

At the committee meeting, the Harbourmaster (Mr F. Sheward) had said that the boating public was well behaved at Christmas and New Year, but not on Waitangi Day.

To save fuel he used the work boat to police the harbour but found it too slow. In the future, it would be necessary to use a power boat and accept the increased cost of this. Plant costs Plant costs in Akaroa County have risen more than 163 per cent, over the last five years, according to Mr Paulin's report. The highest single factor contributing to the over-all rise was a 198 per cent rise in the cost of electricity used, followed by a 190 per cent rise in the cost of repairs and parts.

In the over-all total for the Akaroa County Council labour costs rose 173 per cent, petrol and oil rose 152 per cent, road tax rose 157 per

cent, .the cost of tyres rose 140 per cent, and the cost of licences and insurance increased 102 per cent. “When the rates go up 20 per cent a year, people think the council is squandering their money, but plant costs keep going up." Mr Paulin said. -The Ministry of Works and Development Plant Index had risen 46 per cent in the 1979-80 year alone. Zoning From previous discussions it had appeared there was a requirement for a Light In-dustrial-Commercial zone within the township of Akaroa, Mr Paulin said. This zone would cater for all the servicing industries such as builders’ yards. Discussions had been held with the council’s planning consultants and various sites had been inspected. There were two areas that were most suitable and these would be further investigated, he said. Akaroa Museum More than $6OO had been raised for the Akaroa Museum at a bring and buy held by the Friends of the Museum on Saturday, April 18. Cr R. K. Craw told the council. The money raised would be spent on the museum by the friends rather than handed to the museum board, he said. Garden of Tane The administration of the Garden of Tane should perhaps be handed back to the Lands and Survey Department, the owner of the garden, Cr L. P. A. de Latour, the chairman of Akaroa’s community council, told the county council meeting. The department had done a good job in handling other reserves in the area.

Handing the administration back would save the community council administration costs, although there would be only $lOO to spend on the reserve this year, and would relieve the council’s town staff of some work.

However, the whole of the area included two cemetary reserves owned by the council, and there might be some residents who would not like to see these owned by the Government. In any case, the financial saving would not be very great, he said. The management plan for the area would be delayed until Mr Paulin had heard the views of the department's senior staff.

Cr de Latour reported that one of the two dead silver birch trees in the Garden of Tane had at last been cut down and the other would be cut down soon.

Takamatua School The New Brighton Lions Club had offered to build a new toilet block at the Takamatua School, the council was advised by a letter from Mr J. W. Taylor, the principal of Chisnallwood Intermediate School, in Breezes Road, Christchurch. The main use of the facilities at the school was for parties of 25 to 30 school children for up .to four days during the week. On occa-

sional week-ends, adults and children used the school and this acted as a deterrent for possible vandalism. Youth groups had used the building at times with the council’s permission. The reason for building the new block was to provide separate toilets for children and adults. Mr Taylor said. Road signs Cr I. C. Harris said that a lot of tourists were now coming into the area, and suggested that signs be erected pointing out all those places which gave the county its local colour. Individual places with local names would make driving more interesting and cause discus-, sion as people drove along,' he said.

The County Chairman (Mr T. J. Brocherie) said the idea would be investigated. He said that road signs in the county had been vandalised over the Easter holidays. Some had been broken and others shot at. Signs were damaged during most holiday periods, which was serious because of the public cost.

Canterbury Museum i Cr D. S. Hayward reported that he had attended a meet- . ing at the Canterbury | Museum, but that it had ' almost been a non-event. Nothing had been said to change his mind about refus- ’ ing to pay the extra $ll7 the museum had requested. “They are doing a good job, but they, too, have to live within their budget,” he said. Fire sign

The sign at the Hilltop indicating the current degree of fire risk in the county should be changed more often to give a more accurate reading, Cr Craw told the meeting. People perhaps tended to ignore the sign when it indicated a more extreme risk than they could see around them from the Hilltop. For example, the sign was still showing extreme that week while all the basin was green, he said. He suggested having a sign at the Hilltop saying that the area was a fire risk area and pointing out that there were notices in each bay.

Mr Brocherie said that while the area seen from the Hilltop might not be an extreme fire risk, the eastern bays might be, and the sign should show the most extreme condition present anywhere in the county. Mr Paulin said that the present sign was useful but that some effort must be made to adjust the indicator more often. Milk price The meeting voted to support the Marlborough ward of the Counties’ Association in calling for a uniform price for milk. Depending on the support from wards around the coun- I try, Marlborough intended to request the association’s executive to make the matter $ political issue and to pursuet it to a ministerial level, a; letter from the Marlborough ward. said.