HARBOUR LEAGUE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 84, 21 March 1911, Page 7

HARBOUR LEAGUE.

MEETING AT TARADALE.

A splendid meeting was held at • Taradale last night tor the purpose of considering the harbour question. The hail was well filled and Mr. Waterhouse occupied the chair. The chairman asked that the question } he given a fair and impartial hearing and that all questions Ik? thoroughly thrashed out by those present. He did not intend to ask questions himself, but introduced Mr. Geo. Nelson, who was prepared ' to place all facts before them. Mr. Nelson, after briefly refer- ; ring to the queries as to his reasons for urging the construction of the , Inner Harbour and ridiculing the . idea that he had any personal mone- ; tary interest in the work, proceeded to explain his reason for first = taking up the harbour question. He had been prompted to do so by the report first made by Mr. Marchant, which struck him as being quite in- ] adequate. He also referred to the ! reports made by the other engineers i and showed where the work was ; not properly completed. They had j not thoroughly- investigated the ! subject of Tataekuri silt. Their ! conclusions with regard to the en- | trance were also open to question. . He personally was of opinion that I there was no travelling sand bank I which would prevent the channel ! from being kept open. The nature of the bottom of . the harbour basin ! was also proved by the recent bor- : ings. Recent investigations had » shown clearly that the silt in the ; channel was not sea sand at all, but ‘ silt from the Tutaikuri. Not one ; engineer from 1883 to 1906 had given a full report on the harbour question. Only partial reports had been made until Mr. Marchant re- , ported in 1906, but he was not J wanted to report on the Inner Harbour. He referred to the recent . storm at the Breakwater, and showf ed how absurd it was to expect a i proper harbour to be constructed : there. No ship could have held to ] its moorings at the Breakwater in April last. It was an absolutely unsafe place to construct a harbour. It was also too shallow and could not be deepened unless at . great expense. Mr. Vigor Brown ‘ had said it would cost one and a half-million to take rock out of the ; Inner Harbour, but he would like j to know from Mr. Biown how much ’ it would take to deepen the Breakwater Harbour. Dealing with ae- ] commodation, he referred to the scarcity of land at the Breakwater i —the Railway Department wanted 15 acres alone, and where could land be secured for warehouses. i Mr. Crawley had a section somewhere there, but it would not do much good. Further, there was no facility for reclamation. There was no room to reclaim. They had only 150 acres and possibly they might just as well fill it in all together (laughter). Turning to the Inner Harbour, he pointed to the possibility of reclamation, which he valued at say £400.000. A mole had been allowed for by the three engineers in reporting on the Inner Harbour, but this was not wanted. There was going to be no sand, and if there was, they would dredge it out easily enough. Mr. Vigor Brown had said that the Harbour Board land in Napier South was paying 5 per cent, on £750 per acre, which came near his estimate of the cost of reclaiming land at Port Ahuriri. A factor now introduced was the power of the modem suction dredge. At Westport the Board there found they could remove spoil for under Id per ton. which was a penny per ton less than he had allowed in his estimate of the cost of Inner Harbour dredging. Touching on reclamation of flats, he said that it was j-ropesed to erect a weir controlling the rise and fall of the tide. It was desired to have the full rise and fall in the shipping basin, but the proposed weir would so control the tide that the Inner Harbour would be exactly the same and the drainage of Taradale would not be affected at all. But his idea was that the Tutaikuri should be directed to the Waitangi. This would do Cb’.e no ha»m and indeed the additional water would help to keep open the mouth and save Clive from flood. Such action w-onld be of great benefit to Taradale ami a e«»od drainage canal could be const rm. fr<l. giving a lower level of disehaige than at present, and the building of a flood gate would prevent the inflow of water at high tide. Mr. Nelson resumed his seat amidst hearty applause. The chairman called upon Mr. Arthur McCarthy to address the meeting. Responding to the request. Mr. McCarthy urged that the people of Taradale should look into the whole question. Listen to what they had to say ; listen to what the other side had to say. and form their own opinion. The Breakwater Harbour was shallowing and the wave apron would have to be ' continually renewed. After 25 years’ effort the Board had found that it was impossible to form a

structure able to withstand the! Pacific. The current was rushing; under the structure and carrying! the shingle with it and as a result, i where there was previously 20ft. of I w-ater there was now only 10ft. Thei only place where a harbour should! be made was in the place which na-; ture provided for them. He fore-! shadowed the time when Napier would be an absolutely free port owing to its reclamation endowments and shipping business. Mr. K. Tareha spoke warmly of; the Inner Harbour. He said he had i been round the world and had; never seen a better harbour. If he] had the money he would provide it,. but he had not enough, and could only contribute as a ratepayer. In reply to questions, Mr. Nel- 1 son said it was not reasonable to ] suppore they could borrow £300,000! for nothing—it would cost £15,000 aj year—but when the harbour was! completed the revenue would be; sufficient to do without rates. He ■ would not mislead the people as i the Breakwater party did last year, j If they borrowed money they would j have to pay for it. but the Board! would be able to save from revenue i and thus reduce rates. Mr. Waerhouse moved a hearty, vote of thanks to Mr. Nelson for; the instructive and interesting ad-! dress. The vote was passed with applause. ( Mr. Waterhouse expressed himself as thoroughly satisfied that the! Inner Harbour would not adversely affect the drainage of Taradale. ! Mr. O’Reilly expressed great = satisfaction with Mr. Nelson’s re-* ference to the river question. He] was glad to hear that it was pos-i sible to direct the river to the Wai- j tangi. I Mr. Nelson pointed out that it i was necessary to keep the silt-1 bearing river from discharging near ; the entrance of the harbour. The j taking of the Tutaikuri to the Wai-i tangi would increase the safety of j Taradale, Papakura and Clive. Mr. Waterhouse remarked that] the Government engineer. Mr. Bur-1 nett, had expressed similar views to ' Mr. Nelson with regard to the river; diversion. 1 The meeting then terminated; with a vote of thanks to the chair. COMMITTEE MEETING. A meeting was held afterwards for the purpose of forming a committee for Taradale and a good strong organisation Teas formed. Mr. J. Eddy was appointed chairman and it w-as arranged to meet at 7.30 on Thursday.