Flood protection gets Govt boost

Press, 12 October 1988, Page 4

Flood protection gets Govt boost

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The level of assistance for Greymouth after the devastating floods of May and September has been announced by the Government.

The assistance was to accelerate work on stopbanks to protect the town, said the Prime Minister, Mr Lange. Since last year, he said, the Westland Catchment Board had been working on a five-year scheme to protect the whole town. In the light of this year’s floods, the scheme had been revised to provide increased protection.

The announcement means that all work on the stopbanks would be completed to the new

specifications by March, 1990, at a cost of $3.88 million. The main part of the central business district would be protected by March, 1989, Mr Lange said. Financial assistance calculated at $3,106 million would now be available from the Government. It would be subsidising the local share of

the work to a level of 80 per cent, compared to the 60 per cent previously. Mr Lange noted that

some concern about Greymouth’s vulnerability had been expressed by the insurance industry. The Government had been in touch with the Insurance Council and the council would arrange for working plans to be examined by its professional engineering consultants.

The consultants’ evaluation was to be made to all insurers, who would then make their decisions about flood cover on the basis of this information, Mr Lange said.