EROSION IS MAJOR PROBLEM IN WESTLAND.

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 October 1946, Page 3

EROSION IS MAJOR PROBLEM IN WESTLAND.

BOARD’S DIFFICULTIES CLASSIFICATION OF LAND FOR RATING DEPUTATION TO WELLINGTON Although the decision of the Government not to proceed with the contemplated amendment to the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act, to give catchment boards the power to impose a flat rate over the whole of their districts for works, may impose a partial but temporary paralysis upon the activities of the Westland Catchment Board, the lack of funds in its own right has not prevented the board, so far, •from undertaking works on the West Coast valued at £10,341. This has been made possible by free grants totalling £8651 which have been authorised by the Soil Council. The balance has been found by farmers and local bodies directly affected by the work carried out or authorised. Similar free grants have been received by local bodies on the West Coast in the past direct from the Government when there has been abnormal flood damage, but with the establishment of the Soil Council and catchment boards, the procedure has changed. The endorsement of the Catchment Board is now required for any work dealing with the control of rivers and the prevention of erosion, and it is the Soil Council, not a Government department, which decides whether or not a grant or a subsidy is justified. The Act provides that the Catchment Board may levy a general rate, over the whole of its area, for administrative purposes only, of oneeighth of a penny in the £1 on the capital value, but each rate other than this administrative rate shall be made and levied on a graduated scale according to the classification of rateable property in its area. Reason For Concern. It is the decision of the Government not to amend this section (101) of the Act which has given concern to members of the Westland Catchment Board and others interested in its work. Owing to the geographic features of Westland, it is considered by the board that the classification of land in its area presents tremendous difficulties and that it will be years before the work can be completed and rating for works instituted. So seriously does the board regard the difficulties facing it in this regard that its chairman, Mr. F. F. Boustridge, and a member, Mr. W. Clayton, will proceed to Wellington to place the whole position before the Soil Council, in an effort to obtain special assistance in the mattei o~ land classification. It was early foreseen that the nature of the country on the West Coast, with its many fastflowing rivers, would create exceptional difficulties in Catchment Board work. At the inaugural meeting held at Greymouth to consider the formation of the board, on September 26, 1944, the Mayor of Greymouth (Mr. F. A. Kitchingham) re- ' ferred to the magnitude of the problem to be tackled. He pointed out that the proposed Westland catchment district would contain one-fifteenth of the total aiea of land in New Zealand, a population of one-sixtieth and a capital value of one-one hundred and fortieth of the whole of the Dominion. ~ .i Mr. W. L. Newnham, tnen engm-eer-in-chief to the Public Works Department and now chairman of the Soil Council, stated at the same meeting that it was realised that the West Coast would not bring in very substantial revenue and it was proposed to go into the question ol whether something could be done to assist the West Coast Board. Preferential Treatment. Mr. O'Brien, now Minister of Mines, agreed that he could not see the possibility of a catchment board working on the West Coast unless it had more money than the district could provide, and pointed out that south of Greymouth there were no fewer than 22 rivers eroding the land. Mr. Newnham said that as far as he was concerned, he could give an assurance that the West Coast would be given preferential financial treatIn the first 16 months oi its life, the Westland Board has, apparently, had the preferential treatment promised. It recently received a free grant of £1674 from the Soil Council to cover its administrative exoenses for the first year (when there could be no rate). These expenses were approximately £BOO and the balance of the grant will be utilised as a working fund each year untn. the administrative rate is collected. For the current year the board has levied a rate of three-thirty-seconds of a penny in the £ (a thirty-second less than allowable under the Act for administration), and this is estimated to produce £ 1740. This money must be used entirely for administrative expenses, and none of it is available for actual works. In fact, the Soil Council recently declined to agree to a suggestion by the board that it should meet a small account of just over £6, the balance on a South Westland job, out of the administrative funds. Thus, it is only the receipt of free money from the Soil Council, plus much smaller contributions from farmers and local authorities which has enabled the board to authorise and proceed with its first six works. The details of these are:— Work Total cost. Soil Cl, Other. * ■£ £ £ Greek’s Creek .... 100 100 ~ Poern.i 1.320 1,020 300 Waitangi 0.919 6,099 820 Dry Creek 305 24;> GO Aliaura 1,500 1,125 ,h-> Kakapotahi .... 197 62 ]••>>

Totals 10,311. 8.651 1.690

All of the above works, with the exception of that planned at Ahaura, are in the Westland County, and the Westland County Council is the only local authority yet to make a direm contribution to Catchment Board work. The possibility that much of the board’s work might be confined to the much-watered area of South Westland was foreseen by members of the Greymouth Borough Council when the formation of a catchment district was first mooted and several councillors expressed themselves as being opposed to any system of flat rating and considered that the classi-

fication of land, as written into the Act, was to be preferred. The section of the Act dealing with classification, which has now become a burning question for the Westland Board, provides that any board may from time to time appoint one or more fit persons to. examine and classify all lands in its district liable to be rated for the purposes of any general rate. All such lands, states the Act, shall be classified according to the degree of benefit received or likely to be received from works carried out by the board. There shall be not less than two, nor more than six, classes named A, B, C, D, E, and F respectively, and where any land cannot be reasonably classified as receiving, or being likely to receive, any benefit, direct or indirect,' from the works, that land shall be placed in another class named G. Every landholder has the right of appeal against the classification made, and, as previously stated, the general rate must be levied on a graduated scale, according to the classification of the land affected by the work carried out. As a simpler illustration, it is possible to visualise an area of land with the contour resembling a staircase. The bottom of the stairs would be the river, the first step class A land, the second class B, and so on, until the land so far removed from the river that it could not possibly be affected is reached. Peculiar Difficulties. It is considered that the nature of nearly all the farm land on the West Coast presents exceptional difficulties in. regard to classification, in that class A land would be strictly limited. Much of the farming land is composed of narrow strips on each side of the rivers, and to farm this successfully a farmer must have an area on the terraces which rise fairly close to the river. This terrace land would receive no direct benefit from river control, and thus the first classification problem would arise. Again, the number of settlers affected by any single protection or conservation work on most Westland rivers is small, and with the geographic features common in most river valleys,' the classification would vary greatly and there would almost certainly be room for argument in the fixing of the proportions in which the rates should be borne. These features, which are probably more marked in W estland than in any other part of New Zealand, will be emphasised by the board s. delegation to the Soil Council. It is also considered by the board, and its •specialist advisers, that the ‘examination” and “classification” of all land in its area would be a herculean task, long and expensive. With no change in the Act now contemplated, however, classification in Westland appears inevitable if the board is to continue to function and carry out its objects, and it has become a matter of endeavouring to obtain assistance in the task. Board’s Wide Powers. Although for the moment limited in its financial transactions, the board is given wide powers under the subject to the general supervision of the' Soil Council. In carrying out any work it may exercise all the authority given to local bodies by the Public Works Act, 1928,' and, in some respects, such as the removal of material from lands, or access to lands, has even more authority than that conferred by the Public Works Act. . Before constructing works on pi ivate lands, the. board must give formal notice to the owner, who may lodge an objection. If no agreemen. is reached between the board and the objector, the matter is then referred to the Soil Council, whose decision is final. ... The board is partly elective ana partly non-elective, but the Act provides that the elected members must exceed the non-elected members. Thus, in Westland the board has. nine elected members and six appointed members, officers of State Departments—Crown Lands, Forestry, Agriculture, Mines, Works, and Scientific Research All connected with the boa’-d since its inception consider that the assistance given by the departmental officers, ■ through their specialised knowledge, nas been .ol inestimable benefit. The farming community is also strongly rep esented on the board, .ana although farmers in some districts have no. seen, eye to eye with the board on local problems, the direct expression of farmers’ views has been oi considerable assistance.