MAKERUA DRAINAGE BOARD

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6666, 20 July 1928, Page 2

MAKERUA DRAINAGE BOARD

The monthly meeting of the Makerua .Drainage Board was hold .yesterday There were present Messrs A,‘ Seifert (chairman), J. H. P. Liggins, H. Akers and P. L. Tippler , ; ‘ The overseer, Mr W. H. Miles, reported af follows;—Since the last meeting of the board ,all the drain cleaning work has been completed. The filling in of the holes on the bank around the Manawatu Kiver will be finished in about five days. The culvert, along the Tokomaru Eiver has been repairedThe large flood-gate over the Whltahui tram line was put out of working order by the sinking of the concrete pillars. I had to . take the gate down and produce the width by three inches to allow the gate to work" free. Akers’ drain is progressing fairly well. The drain is now cut about 12 chains on this side of- the Whitanui boundary, which is completed all but for soma timber to bo taken out. The bank at the Kara Creek bridge will require raising and widening now that the bridge has been completed. This will require about 10 feet of pipes to go through the bank. These arq already on the job. There is still eight feet of the concrete containing wall on the drain side of the Kara bridge yet to be completed up to the new bridge. Tippler’s flood-gate at the Kara Creek urgently requires repairs as the water is getting around . the concrete; to make a permanent'job this gate should bo taken out and replaced with a smaller one which would be more suitable as the present gate is far too low and is always getting silted up; I have made a list of all tho board’s spare gear. There arc about three tons of spare parts, belonging to the Marion dregc which are of no valuip, only for scrap iron. I think the board should collect all-this-and send it to one of the foundries and clean it up. There' is still one of tho dredge buckets on Oknko Eoad which should be shifted.

Various settlers wrote in reply to the board’s letter, drawing attention to the danger of rabbits burrowing on the river bang, stating that ,in their opinion, the menace did not exist. Also, it was pointed out that there was a

grave danger to fao banks from erosion by the Manawatu River which the board should deal with before it had gone too far. The overseer stated that there were rabbits and that the erosion was no worse than it had over been. The chairman . remarked that, if steps were not taken to eradicate bits, there would be no other, course for the board but to declare that part a rabbit-infested area. With regard to the allegations of the river cutting into the banks, he suggested that the board should make an inspection. The letters were received. Mr J. F. Carter waited on the board stating.that the water in-that section of Akers’ drain running through his property-was dead. He would like the cleaning operations on the |rain continued up to his property or, alternatively, that the water be taken down the Warrington road drain. The chairman explained that it had boon decided to suspend operations at the conclusion of the present contract. Ho did not think it would be practicable to let tho water away down the Warrington road drain. The board would, however, do what it could. It was decided that the chairman and Mr J. IT. P. Liggins inspect the drain.