Rakaia nod awaited

Press, 9 November 1981, Page 1

Rakaia nod awaited

Government approval of the proposed Lower Rakaia irrigation scheme between the Ashburton River and the Rakaia River is still awaited. The Parliamentary Undersecretary to the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Talbot) confirmed at the week-end that Government approval had not yet been given. The chairman of the Lower Rakaia Irrigation Association, Mr B. K. Cameron, said that it was believed that the recommendation for approval in principle was still to go before the Cabinet works committee.

This had been delayed pending a report from the Treasury, as the scheme did not come up to the 15 per cent internal rate of return required for such schemes and needed the approval of the Minister of Finance (Mr Muldoon).

Mr Cameron said that irrigation schemes and rural water supply schemes had to surmount the 15 per cent barrier while for most other projects the requirement was a return of 10 per cent. It had even been suggested that projects on which the return was below 10 per cent had been approved. Mr Cameron said that they would also like details of the Government’s new irrigation policy before they went to the polls.

Mr Talbot confirmed at the week-end that the Government was close to approving a new policy for irrigation. He said he was confident that with good planning there would be adequate water in the Rakaia River for irrigation on both sides and for development of fish farming and other uses.