Little River flood feared

Press, 13 September 1982, Page 4

Little River flood feared

The level of Lake Forsyth should be lowered to reduce the flood risk to Little River township. the Wairewa County Council has been told.

The Little River storekeeper. Mr Cyril Guthrie, told councillors at a council meeting that two hours of heavy rain would cause flooding in the township. “We no longer have a lake but just a saucer, and the chance of flooding is great,” he said.

The lake is regularly opened to the sea by the council to keep the level down. It was last opened on August 24, when it took 2 v z days to bulldoze a channel to the sea. That was the first time it had been opened for almost a year. The lake was 2.28 m deep when the channel was opened and had dropped to 1.65 m said the county foreman, Mr T. Stuart. It was now back up to 1.77 m after recent rain.

Soil washed from hillsides by rain was filling the lake bed, said Cr T. D. Barwick. He had seen the lake opened every year for the last 60 years. He predicted that within 75 years the lake would no longer exist; it would be filled with run-off soil.

Mr Guthrie said he was prepared to give $5OO a year towards a research project

to investigate ways to maintain the lake at a "reasonable depth." The county chairman, Mr W. J. Thompson, said consultant engineers had made surveys at the lake, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries had made an economic survey in 1971. Any further investigation of lake levels would have to be done by professional engineers, he said.

The depth of Lake Forsyth had nothing to do with flooding in the town, said Cr D. N. Cadman. Flooding occurred because there was a big runoff from the hillsides and only a narrow river channel for it to drain into. Although floodwaters, rose quickly, they drained away just as quickly, said Mr Stuart. Flooding’ had always been a problem at Little River and lowering the lake level further would not make much difference.

A suggestion by i Mr Guthrie that a pump be installed on the beach to keep the level of the lake down was rejected. Pumps had been investigated in earlier surveys, said Cr Barwick, and it would take .40 of the biggest pumps available to keep the level down.

A shingle bank at the lake end of the channel to the sea will be cleared in the summer to ■ allow outward seepage to maintain the lake level.

Property values The council is unhappy at the "unrealistically high and inconsistent" valuation of land in the county by the Valuation Department. The department has recently finished its five-yearly valuation of land in the county, and the gross land value has risen about 170 per cent since 1977. All the Valuation Department was interested in was the resale value, said Cr Cadman. Nine ratepayers had objected to the valuations. Cr J. D. R. White suggested that valuations should be taken on the productive value of land rather than resale value. He moved that the council complain to the department about the valuations. Cr Thompson said the department should also be told the council's surprise at the shift in emphasis from bet-ter-class land to poorer-class land in the valuation figures. The valuations would adversely affect the county’s roading moneys and contribution to the Canterbury Museum Board, he said. Riding school Plans for a bunkhouse to accommodate 16 people at a horse-trekking and riding school at Cooptown were presented to the council. Councillors were discussing under which regulations Mr A. S. Caley should apply for permission to build the bunkhouse.