Recreational lake for centre of Nelson?

Press, 5 July 1988, Page 6

Recreational lake for centre of Nelson?

By

WILLIAM HOBBS

in Nelson

The works department of the Nelson City Council has proposed a $1.4 million plan to create a recreational lake in central Nelson by placing a collapsible weir across the mouth of the Maitai River.

In a report to the council, the water and drainage engineer, Mr Pat Docherty, conceded that the expenditure would not be justifiable in the present 'economic conditions.

Mr Docherty said his report was prompted by a seminar on inflatable rubber dams held in March by Japan’s Bridgestone Corporation in association with what was then the commercial

services division of the Ministry of Works. A collapsible weir across the Maitai River outfall to create recreational water in the heart of Nelson and to improve the scenic appeal of the lower reaches of the river, had been considered for some time, he said.

During periods of high river flows it would have to be lowered to allow flood waters to pass unimpeded, so construction would be either of an inflatable rubber dam or one with electrically driven steel gates.

Mr Docherty said the suggestion was for a 2.5 metre high rubber dam beside the Trafalgar Centre car park which would cause water to back up

as far as the Riverside Pool, about one kilometre away.

Approvals to build such a barrier would be required from the Nelson Catchment Board, the Ministry of Transport’s marine division, the Department of Conservation and the Acclimatisation Society, Mr Docherty said, though informal discussions had suggested the necessary approvals could be obtained.

Nelson’s mayor, Mr Peter Malone, said that schemes for tidying the lower reaches of the Maitai River had been in the public mind for many years. He said it was appropriate that information should be on file to show the river could be enhanced, albeit at a price.