Irrigation will help Amuri, says P.M.

Press, 20 November 1981, Page 3

Irrigation will help Amuri, says P.M.

The social effect of the Balmoral irrigation scheme would help reverse the declining population of the Amuri area by providing more on and off-farm employment. said the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) yesterday. Mr Muldoon spent about 30 minutes on the bank of Hurunui River, where the intake for the scheme will be built, talking about the benefits to the local community and New Zealand as a whole that would be gained from the scheme. He said that a lot of the work on the nearby Waiau irrigation scheme was almost completed and the starting of the Balmoral

scheme would provide continuity of work for contractors. The Government was confident that those concerned about the environmental and recreational aspects of the Hurunui River had nothing to worry about. The design of the Balmoral scheme would ensure that those using boats on the river would have their activities restricted only slightly. Steps would be taken to ensure that fish could not enter the irrigation system and so spawning would not be affected. Before leaving, Mr Muldoon used a big bulldozer to turn the first sod on the scheme.