THE MANGAONE FLOODS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8305, 8 June 1907, Page 4

THE MANGAONE FLOODS.

It is a safe thing to say *th&t those ratepayers liviog 'or owning property along the banks of , the Mangaone. stream will welcome the inforxiiatiOil that the ManawatuLand; Drainage Board is about to undertake another portion of the work of improving that watercourso; b\it it :is unfortunate that the whole job cannot be taken in hand and pushed to completion at once. Those who visited the western end of the borough during the recent floods 'will recollect the lal'ge area that was inundated by the spill from the Mangaone, and will appreciate the need 'for something being done. The trouble is accentuated by the fact that the bed of the stream is constantly being raised by the deposit of silt, and it is said, on the authority of a settler who has lived near it for fifteen years, that in that period it has risen by some five feet. The tortuousness of the channel, and the consequent slow rate of flow, are, of course, accountable for this. The urgency of the matter has been appreciated by the Board, which, on two occasions, has endeavoured, but in vain, to induce its ratepayers to sanction a loan for the carrying out of the whole work. Defeated each time, it was at last decided to make a start and push it on out of general rates, which were necessarily increased for the purpose. So far, the sum of £1450 has been spent, but a very great deal yet remains to be done. We are informed, on reliable authority, that the ratepayers who refused to sanction the loan are now paying, in increased rates, something like double what they would have been asked to provide had the loan been carried. In view of this fact, which, perhaps, is not generally known, and of others already referred to, it might bo advisable for the Board to try once more to obtain a loan, first taking care to fully explain the position of affairs. Apart altogether from the damage and depreciation caused to borough property, it is necessary, in the interests of the Board's ratepayers themselves, that the work should be grappled with. The Board is doing its best under the circumstances, and the resolution passed at Thursday's meeting will mean that another section of about a mile and a half will be commenced. At the present rate of progress, however, a very lengthy ; period must elapse before the work | is finished, and in that time considerable damage may be occasioned. Had the job been done in toto in the first place, the borough would have been saved a considerable sum, as its share would have come to about £3000 only; but already some £3500 has had to be spent in endeavouring to relieve that portion of the town from the flood waters. It may be mentioned that, under the award of the Commission that sat some years ago, the borough has to find 7 per cent, of the total cost, but the money has not to be paid until the work is completed.