NAPIER WORKS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 205, 30 July 1934, Page 2

NAPIER WORKS

THREE NEW PROJECTS

PORT, RIVER AND LAGOON,

NAPIER, July 28. Popular approval of the scheme for the development of the port of Napier brings finality to three large projects upon which public enterprise and endeavour in Hawke’s Bay have been closely engaged for more than three years-:—the harbour problem, the diversion of the treacherous Tutaekuri River, and the development of the Ahuriri Lagoon, an area of 7500 acres which was raised above sea level by the 1931 earthquake. The harbour problem and the river diversion are, of course, issues of long standing, but the efforts which, in each case, have concluded in finality during the past few weeks, may be said to have begun a short time after the earthquake disaster. Of the three undertakings, the development of the port is by far the largest and the most important. It involves a total expenditure of £406,000 and will occupy four years and a half. Much of the work is already in hand, the Napier Harbour Board making use of a sum of £71,000, the unexpended balance of loan moneys previously raised, while the remainder will become available through the decision of the ratepayers last Thursday to sanction the borrowing of £335,000. The whole object of the scheme, briefly, is to substitute, direct wharf loading for the present system of lighterage, under which extra handling of cargoes is involved, with the additional factor of extra cost, amounting in some cases to 15s 6d per ton. Wharf loading, in place of lighterage, will give more rapid dispatch, less handling, and cheaper SAFETY FROM FLOOD.

The diversion of the Tutaekuri River is being carried out with the object of making immune some thousands of acres of property (almost exclusively farming land) from flood. Regularly each winter during the past few years the river has broken the stop-banks built to guide it to the sea and has spread damage and destruction over a wide area. The diversion consists of cutting a new course to the sea, leaving the old course at a point known as Powdrell’s Bend, and going almost direct to the coastline and reaching it after covering a distance of 3.) miles instead of miles as in the past. The project, which is already well under way, is estimated to cost £112,000, and it is hoped to have it completed by the end of next year. The work embraces tbe widening and deepening of over three miles of channel, the erection of massive stop-banks at the sides, extensive grading, and the erection of many chains of road and throe bridges, one to cost £16.000, a second £12,000, and the third £9OOO.

The development and settlement of the Ahuriri Lagoon has been made possible only by the uplift of tbe 1931 earthquake. The whole area, which borders on the Napier borough boundary, was before the disturbance under water which varied in depth from a few inches to 10ft and 12ft. The greater part of it, as a result of tbe 7-foot uplift, is to-day high and dry, while patches are covered by one, two or three feet of water. The preliminary work consists principally of drainage. A huge main drain and a number of subsidiaries (some 12 miles in all) are being dug. The next step will be the reading, to be followed by subdivision into individual sections. THREE HUNDRED FAMILIES.

It is expected that about 300 families will be settled on the area, each with about 20 acres of land and a cottage, as well as stock and and a quantity of seed and other requirements. The scheme, costing about £50,000, is being carried out by tbe Government. The engineering work is being done by the Public Works Department, while the Small Farms Board, co-operating with the Unemployment Board (which has given the project liberal assistance), will supervise the final development and settlement.

'Tlie area is the subject of an agreement between the owners (the Napier Harbour Board) and the Government. It has been leased to the Government at a nominal rental for a term of 21 years, during which the State will he reimbursed for its capital outlay by the rentals from the individual tenants; and it is provided that, when such reimbursement is complete, the area will revert to the Harbour Board, which will give the tenants ordinary perpetual leases, collecting future rentals itself.

While it is expected that business throughout Hawke’s Bay will enjoy an immediate stimulus from the expenditure of the £568,000 involved in the three undertakings (some £240,000 of it to ho spent on labour alone), each of the projects is of permanent value, and all should contribute much towards the economic development, and expansion of Hawke’s Bay as a whole.