RIVER EROSION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20618, 20 November 1941, Page 8

RIVER EROSION

OPERATING NEW ACT NOMINEES FOR COUNCIL MINISTER MAKES A START (Special to tins Herald.) WELLINGTON, this day. The Minister of Public Works, the I-lon. I-I. T. Armstrong, has taken prompt steps to bring into operation the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control. Act passed during the recent session. Local authorities conecrnecl in these problems have been invited' to submit nominations of the two; members of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council to represent their interests on this body, the principal authority in carrying out the provisions of the measure. In addition to the two local authority representatives, who will be appointed by the Governor-General on the Minister’s recommendation, the council will comprise a representative of agricultural and pastoral interests, the ■ Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department, the Under-Secre-tary for Lands, and an officer of the Public Works Department. This central body will view the problems from the national angle, and it will advise the Minister regarding the constitution of catchment boards throughout the Dominion. These boards will report to the council on the organisation of river protection and soil conservation in their areas, and as a result it is expected that there will be amalgamations or even dissolutions of some existing river and drainage boards, whose functions may be vested in the catchment board of the district. Two Different Problems Discussing the operation of the new measure, the Minister remarked that keen interest is being taken in the formation of the council, and when he has received all the nominations it will be duly constituted. “The North and South ‘ Islands.” he continued, “present different problems when it comes to soil conservation and river control. The shingle river is mostly found in the South Island, though there are some examples in the North, where the erosion and drainage problems are of a different character.” Financing the injure operations of the new, bodies will be another problem.. There is provision in the law for continuance of local rating for river protection and land drainage, but Mr. Armstrong pointed out thatthere is not likely to be the same smooth financial path as was the case with the Main Highways Board, which was set up with an independent income from petrol and tyre taxes. “The income for operating the new Act,” he said, “will come from Government subsidy and local rates, the catchment boards having rating ppwer, and I expect, that the council will recommend lo the Governrrfent the proportion of the expenditure which should he met front the national funds.”