PROPOSED FLOATING BASIN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14591, 29 April 1918, Page 4

PROPOSED FLOATING BASIN.

SUBMITTED BY MR. LESLIE H,

REYNOLDS

A suheme iui an inner harbor on the Kaiti siue was submitted to the Harboi Board to-day by Mr. Leslie H. Reynolds : "The plan referred to is a print oi my proposed outer and inner harbor, and ueiineates insofar as may be required for immediate purposes the outline of a floating basin upon the Kaiti side, oi some 7 £ to 8 acres m extent. -The exact-

ness as to scale or alignments may not be qiute accurate, as I have reduced .uid compiled the plan from different surveys, out it may be accepted for pre.sent purpose as s'uriiciently correct. The plan nutjines a harbor which can obtain some Li6QO odd feet of berthage accommodation, but there its limits cease. Its berthage depth alongside the wharves may he from 15 to 10 feet at low water

— to correspond with the natural depth at entrance allowing for tidal rise and sea scend. The Turanganui liver and its side issues, viz., the Taruheru and Waikanao reaches, should m any case of harbor construction, be turned out upon the Waikanae side, as indicated upon my plan of 20th Ifebruary this year, and I have allowed for such undertaking m the estimates which follow. It may be noted that by diverting the Turanganui river and without encroaching upon the railway and other vested interests, the entrance to the floating basin will be from some 75 to 80ft. m width. I do not take it that the heavy intercolonial vessels can enter the port, but am satisfied that the present shipping, up to the Arahura class, may safely harbor and leave under fair or normal weather conditions. For vessels of larger class, I can only refer your Board and the ratepayers to the outer and inner harbor scheme referred to m my report of 20th February last. i propose now to give my estimate of cost of the works touched upon m these few lines, and indicated m brown color upon accompanying plan, but m this I wish it to be distinctly understood that the estimates do) .not include any land values nor other compensations. "Estimate: I estimate that the floating basin indicated by brown color, together with the proposed diversion oi the Turanganui river towards the Waikanae beach, shown m red color upon accompanying plan, exclusive of property and vested interests as above referred to, but including engineering and contingencies, at a cost of £380,000. In conclusion, I desire to refer to a competive plan, submitted by Mr. J. Greig, and m which that gentleman suggested a harbor upon the Kaiti side. I have not his plan before me to refer to, but if my memory serves me, he touched upon a floating basin upon the Kaiti side somewhat similar to that outlined upon plan herewith, but • not the river diversion as I advise. There is one point which I wish to mention before signing my name, i.e., that m order to obtain more area, the present breastwork upon the Kaiti side may be extended riverwards, as indicated upon plan, but for the present I have left such phase m abeyance. Such adjustment of alignment would unquestionably improve the floating basin, and the additional cost to the £380,000 before given would bring the total up to, say, £400,000. It might be noted that this inner .scheme may be linked up to a larger scheme, should such ever be undertaken."

Mr. Humphreys said it was evident they had to do something, and that, whatever it was, it was going to cost a lot of money. Whatever they decided •to do they should do unitedly, and they required to have the public with them. He suggested that they should ask 'lhe Government^ to send its engineer here to give an exhaustive report on the Kaiti canal scheme. The reason he did this was because many people still considered that the Kaiti canal scheme was a feasible one, and it was with a view to clearing this matter up that he would move m the direction indicated. They had to consider not only the im- [ mediate future, but the years to come, and they had to recognise that a very considerable amount of debriß would continue to come down the Waimata. He, had .seen the canal work that Mr. Thompson had done m the Rangitikei district, and he thought if the public knew of the excellent work there they would have confidence m his opinion. Mr. Quirk, m seconding, said they realised it would be a long time before they got to work on any big scheme. Personally, he had no .opinion respecting the feasibility of the Kaiti canal scheme, but he thought Ihe proposal was a good one.

Mr. Long said he thought the Kaiti canal scheme figured m the public mind, and he agreed it would be a good thing to exhaust the various schemes. Mr. Tombleson thought Mr. Thompson should be asked as a referee to report on the canal and also the two schemes that had been submitted by Mr. Reynolds. J Mr. Smith remarked that Mr. Thomp. son was" a drainage and not a marine engineer.

Mr. Lewis said it was time the Board got down to bedrock. He thought it would be a good proposition to get Mr. Thompson, and that they should obtain mm as soon as possible, for the throwing away of money m the river had proved useless.

Mr. Preston said, h© felt that there were many who had the settled bpinion there was a possibility of relief from the silt through the diversion .of the nver. He held an open opinion on the Kaiti canal, and approved of the proposal to obtain this report m question He felt that {hey would be little short of a million m providing permanent accommodation. He did not agree with the suggestion that the canal was a red-herring across the track of progress but the report would enable them to lay down a policy of progress. Mr. Smith said he had no . opposition to the report. If Mr. Thompson condemned the canal scheme then they would have to adopt one of the other schemes. Personally, however, he felt if the canal scheme could be carried out it would be the cheapest for Gisborne.

Mr. Witters approved of the suggestion, remarking he had not had much time for the canal. '

Mr. White agreed that it would not do an V harm to obtain one more report. The chairman said he would like to have a report from Mr. Thompson ii they could get it. Mr. Humphreys' motion to ask the Government for a report from Mr. Thompson at the' earliest opportunity, was carried unanimously. It was decided to hold over Mr. Reynolds' additional ' report m the meantime until the Board had heard from the Government re the above, but if he desired to forward any further information as jpromised, the Board would be pleased to receive same.