LOWBURN DREDGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25543, 24 May 1944, Page 4

LOWBURN DREDGE

“DESOLATING THE LAND” STATEMENT BY MR BODKIN “ The destruction caused by the dredge on the Lowburn flat is nothing short of vandalism, for there we have the spectacle of a dredge desolating some of the finest land in the province,” said Mr W. A. Bodkin, M.P., in an address to the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce last night. “The dredge is destroying land with soil from 10 to 12 feet deep, and the gold it is winning is barely paying expenses. A deputation of farmers in the district will shortly call on the Minister of Mines, Mr P. C. Webb, with the request that either the dredging be stopped, or that the company be required to restore the land to its original state." Mr Bodkin said that in other parts of Central Otago gold dredging operations \ were being carried out in such a manner that the land was actually improved, and he proposed to ask the Minister of Lands, Mr C. F. Skinner, to ensure that the rich belt' of land along the Clutha River was preserved for posterity. The chairman (Mr J. fe. Stewart) referred to the afforestation scheme carried out by the Dunedin Returned Services’ Association on the dredge tailings in the vicinity of Roxburgh, and asked Mr Bodkin if the large areas of tailings on the banks of the Upper Clutha were suitable for a similar scheme.

Mr Bodkin replied that the Roxburgh tailings were the result of shallow dredging or sluicing, and were eminently spited for afforestation work, but the tailings on the Upper Clutha area were the result of deep dredging, and consisted of pure gravel, and nothing else, for a depth of six feet or so. The gravel was said to make the finest roading material in the province, but it would not grow anything.