NOT A GOOD JOB

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 51, Issue 3160, 21 August 1942, Page 5

NOT A GOOD JOB

ORONGO ESTATE DRAINAGE OUTSPOKEN CRITICISM 'COMMENT BY DRAINAGE BOARD Plain speaking was the order of the day when members of the Hauraki United Drainage Board were discussing on Thursday the question of the drainage of the Orongo Estate. Mr D. G. McMillan said it was Certainly no compliment to the Government when one considered how poor the drainage was, especially when one considered the money spent. The chairman, Mr C. K. Fox, in agreeing with Mr McMillan, said it would cost over £lOOO to put the present system in anything like order and give effective drainage. Members criticised the lack of outlets for the area, saying it was no compliment to the person responsible for the planning of the system. At a former meeting of the board “the Land Drainage Department wrote ■asking the board to take over the 'Orongo Estate drainage system and a committee set up to investigate the question reported as follows to Thursday’s meeting:— “We met Mr Taylor, resident engineer of the Lands . Department, Kerepeehi, and obtained from him all the information he was able to give us on the drainage of this area and the following are the main points on the drainage and maintenance of the •area: —

“The area consists of approximately 2000 acres. The total drainage of drains cleaned and maintained by the -department is 547 chains. The total amount spent -by the department over the past seven years on maintenance, ■drain cleaning by contract anti wages and deepening, widening and improving the two main outlet drains with excavators and including repairing floodgates and stopbanks was £1877 Os fid and the £250 offer by the department to the board for the period of five years is the yearly average ■amount spent by the department over the seven years above mentioned. “Mr Taylor supplied us with the yearly totals of expenditure on these works showing the actual maintenance cost of drain cleaning as apart from the repairing of floodgates, stopbanks and the improvement of drains for which he gives the separate figures. He also gave us a small locality plan showing the position of all the drains. Mr Taylor also gave us other information of a general nature and his experience and conclusions on the existing drainage facilities. “To-day (Saturday, August 15) we paid a visit to the district and met several of the settlers at the junction of the Fines drain with the Opani road (they were there of their own accord) before inspecting the drains. They gave their opinions on the drainage, what they thought was wanted and what should be done.

“The letter received from the chief drainage engineer was read to them and we told them that the board was perfectly open minded on the question of the area being joined up with this board’s area, that this board had no desire whatever to press them or persuade them into the proposal but that the board, had to go fully into the matter as far as it could in accordance with the request of the department.

“We then proceeded to walk down the 'Pines drain from the Opani road to the river along Mr Jesse Clevely's boundary. This is the largest drain, being a machine dug drain 15 to 20ft. wide on top, sides nearly straight and from 4 to 5 feet deep average. “This drain was three parts full of water when we were there and absolutely dead. On reaching the floodgate (one gate 4ft. square), we found that there was a large silt bank outside the gate which prevented the gate opening at all. Sticks were obtained and the mud stirred up until the gate swung open about 2 feet and a good run started in the drain. This gate appears to be only about 5 leet down or say from Ift. to Ift. 6in. below land level. It should, in our opinion, be at least 3 to 4ft. deeper to empty this drain properly.

“We then walked along the riverbank (95 chains) to the next main direct outlet drain, from the Opani road to the river, and on reaching the floodgate found it had a good run of water but in our opinion should be another 3ft. deeped. This drain is a machine-dug one and has only a run of water down the centre of the bottom. The bottom width would be about 15ft. wide and the channel about 4ft.

“The subsidiary drains that we saw connecting to these two main, outlets

appeared to be quite good drains, in good order, and of fair depth, if the main outlets were down deeper and functioning properly. Messrs Cocks, Finnerty and G. Egan accompanied us on this tour.

“Summaidsing the position as a whole, as we saw it, we came to the conclusion that the effective drainage of the estate did not present any serious or difficult problem. If the board has to take over the control of this area then we would recommend that it could only be expected to do so on the following conditions: — “That the two floodgates in the main outlet drains must be lowered by say 3ft. or replaced with gates to a similar depth. “That the road culverts be lowered accordingly to correspond with the “That the work of raising the exextra fall obtained. isting stopbanks be completed and that borrow pits on the inside of the stop bank be utilised as a stop-bank drain for the full distance from as far north as possible to the Hauraki Bridge road to act as a large holding drain to discharge into the two main outlet gates as we consider that without this it would be impossible to unwater the lands sufficiently quick between tides owing to the long and slow full from the western boundary of the estate. “The two main outlet drains to be deepened from the floodgate for their full length to take full advantage of the additional fall obtained by the lowering of the- gates, and in so doing the width of the bottom of the drain be drawn in as narrow as possible. “As none of the drains controlled by the department appear to be fenced anywhere on either side the question of the liability of fencing should be settled before the boaro. took over. “The Government should be requested to give the board an undertaking that it would reimburse the board for the loss the board may sustain,, each year through the non-pay-ment of rates after every possible legal step had been taken to collect such rates until the present tenure of the land is altered or the whole of the lands are freehold.

“It appears to us that it will be quite impossible to give reasonable efficient drainage for the area unless the above works are carried out, as a minimum, and that under existing conditions it would, in our opinion, be quite impossible to give the settlers anything like adequate drainage with the present system.” When questioned by members regarding the feeling of the settlers affected, Mr Fox ■ said they were opposed to paying- rates. The committee appointed by ’the -hoard were authorised to reply to the Land Drainage Department in the terms of the report and continue with the necessary negotiations.