Offer made to pipe creek

Press, 23 August 1984, Page 9

Offer made to pipe creek

The Christchurch Drainage Board will offer a land developer 10 per cent of the cost of diverting and piping an open' drain rather than the 85 per cent sought by the subdivider. William' Eldra, Ltd, wanted to divert and pipe Prestons Creek over land it owned on Prestons Road. The new alignment would suit a subdivision plan and would cost about $65,000. The board originally said >hat all costs would to ? Se met by the developer. The company did ribt think

that that was reasonable and offered to pay $lO,OOO towards the work. In a report to the board’s finance committee, the chief engineer, Mr Peter Hunt, said that staff had told the subdivider before the land was sold that the creek was satisfactory for drainage and that any piping or diversion would be at the developer’s expense. The board sometimes made a contribution to piping open drains because pipes saved the ,±oard money. It would not IjZve to clear the drain tvro or

three times a year, he said. A contribution could also be made because both ends of the creek were already piped, said Mr Hunt. He recommended the board pay 10 per cent of the work. Extra costs Devaluation and the rise in interest rates could cost the board an extra $361,000 a year. The chief administration officer, Mr Norman Kelly, said that the increase of 6.5 per cent on all loans raised by the board would add

$lOO,OOO to interest repayments. The cost of devaluation and a $2O a week wage rise would, at the most, cost an extra $261,000. The board’s chairman, Mr Newton Dodge, said he thought the cost of devaluation could be more. Indirect cost increases could be handed on to the board. He said there was little that could be done about the increase in interest rates. The board had been happy easjjer when interest had been forced to