WAIKAHAE CREEK

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22079, 22 July 1946, Page 6

WAIKAHAE CREEK

CONFINING BED COX PARK FRONTAGES RECLAMATION PROJECT The confinement of the channel of the Waikanae Creek to a width of approximately 100 ft, between Cobden street and Peel street, and the reclamation of an area of between 3£ and four acres, has been sanctioned by the Marine Department on the application of the Gisborne Borough Council. An Order-in-Council has been issued authorising the council to reclaim a portion of the Waikanae's bed, giving effect to the Marine Department’s approval. The Gazetting of the Order-in-Council represents the first step in a plan of river-bank improvement which may lead to substantial results in the betterment of Gisborne's environment. The area to be reclaimed lies on the river frontage of Cox Park, a property presented by Mr. A. J. Cox to the public with a view to beautification of the neighbourhood of the railway station. Park of Four Acres The park consists of about four acres of land on the fringe of the Waikanae Creek, and is largely low-lying and swampy, much of it being only slightly above the tidal level of the stream. The intention of the Gisborne Borough Council is to reclaim the frontage and raise the general level of the park by the dumping of town refuse' in the manner adopted elsewhere for reclamation purposes. A smaller area at the mouth of the Waikanae Creek was filled in about nine months by the regular deposit of refuse and spoil, and it is calculated that in four or five years the major portion of Cox Park, with the reclaimed addition, will be brought approximately to the level of Kahutia street. The site lends itself to landscaping which should prove most attractive as a setting to the railway terminus at Gisborne. The bank of the stream, on the town side, will run on a slight curve from the northern abutment of the Peel street bridge near the railway station to the corresponding point at the Grey street bridge, and thence on a fairly straight line westward to the limits of Cox Park. Eventually the scheme of river-bank improvement will be carried further, and also extended to the southern bank. At that stage the width of the stream will be narrowed to about 100 ft.

Proposals for this type of improvement of the Waikanae have been opposed from time to time in the past on the grounds that the stream offers a natural escape for Hood- waters which on occasions have found their way from Matawhero down through Te Hapara into the headwaters of the Waikanae. It was argued that to restrict the channel would mean creating an additional hazard in time of flood. Precedent For Taruheru Plan?

The same argument has been mainly responsible for delaying consideration of improvement works in the Taruheru River, where the active tidal channel is now a mere trickle compared with the stream which ran in the Taruheru bed many years ago. This river carries oft. in time of flood, the surplus water from the Waipaoa which breaks across the Waerenga-a-hika and Makauri flats, and there have been times when private property has been endangered by the heavy scour created by the overflow.

Plans for narrowing the channel of the Taruheru and the construction of a public domain on the town bank between Peel street and Stanley road have been raised on a number of occasions. but have been shelved in the face of opposition from the Marine Department and other Government agencies. The precedent now provided by the co-operation of the Marine Department in connection with the projected Waikanae Creek improvements might give some hope to those who have advocated similar measures affecting the Taruheru River.