RIVER SILTING.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 2729, 9 December 1910, Page 3

RIVER SILTING.

REPORT TO HARBOUR BOARD.

At the meeting of the Thames Harbour Board the secretary (Mr A. Bruce) tabled the following report: —" Through the courtesy ot the Hon. Mr McGowan I am enabled to place before the Board copies of ' The Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Bills/ as introduced to the House by the Minister of Public Works, and as reported on by the committee to whom it was referred. As introduced to the House the scope of operations started at Opani Point, whereas as reported by the committee and passed by the House, the starting point is from the Fairway Buoy. It will be in the recollection of the Board that the recommendation of the Waihou and Ohmemuri Silting Commissioners was that the scope of operations should be from the limit of the harbour above

Turua. The Board, however, took strong exception to this, with the result as shown. However clause 10 will cause considerable trouble some day, as

it sets out amongst other provisions 'That the Act shall not relieve the Harbour Board of any duty cast upon it to keep the portion of the river within its jurisdiction jn a fit state for navigation, whether by the use of dredge or other-

wise, or to cast upon the Minister any liability or duty for so doing.' It is a pity that the clause did not contain a paragraph before the. foregoing words, to the effect--'That with the exception, that it shall be the duty of the River Board to clear all tailings and mining debris from the portion of the Waihou River within the limits of the Thames Harbour, the Harbour Board shall not be relieved, etc.' These few words would have made the clause clear and prevented misunderstanding and possibly litigation in the future. The committee to whom the Bill was referred made a couple of drastic alterations which were of vital importance, viz: That the clauses in the Bill providing for the revoking of the proclamation declaring the rivers sludge channels, and the provision that no tailings should be allowed to be placed in the rivers that would not pass through an 80 mesh standard screen, were struck out. In my opinion this is to be regretted, as the provisions were in the right direction in the solution of the difficulty. I may be allowed to remark that 1 noticed by the newspapers that the attorney for some of the large companies was in Wellington during the crucial period of the Bill, so no doubt his presence and influence there has had tbe effect his companies desired. This is plainly illustrated by the committee recommending the elimination of at least two clauses that suited the companies to have struck out, but on the other hand it was in the public interest that they should have been retained. It is a great pity after the work done by the Silting Association and the Board, that they were not represented in Wellington at the crucial period the same as the interested companies; things might have been different if they had. I notice also that the committee have included the Thames County as one of the contributers from the gold duty ; in the Bill as introduced only the Ohinemuri County and the Waihi Borough were .to contribute from the gold duty, and rightly so."