NEW RAILWAY ENTRY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17238, 19 April 1930, Page 4

NEW RAILWAY ENTRY

RIVER BOARD'S INTEREST

QUESTION FOR P.W.D. ENGINEER

For some time, in fact since the activities of Government surveyors in the vicinity of the Waipaoa river and the Willows settlement were first noted by the farmers in that locality, interest has boon increasing in .the possible effects of'the proposed change in the railway entry into Gisborne. When Cabinet's approval of the change in plans was announced last week reference was made to the fears of some settlers lest the railway embankments 011 either side of the Waipaoa river should retard the escape of flood-waters at any time and so place the Poverty Bay flats in jeopardy of a serious inundation. Further discussion occurred upon this point at the first meeting of the newly-elected Poverty Bay River Board, held on Thursdav afternoon.

There were present at the meeting Messrs. W. C. Pilmer, Chas. Tcitjen, W. Judd and J. Turner, all wellknown residents of the board's rating area. Mr. W. C. Pilmer was elected chairman for .the year, and a certain amount of routine business was disposed of, the main interest of the meeting centring, however, upon the possibility of additional flood dangers accruing from the proposed construction of railway embankments practically at right angles to the course of the Waipaoa river near its mouth. During an animated discussion; it was pointed out that every settler on the Poverty Bay flats would be interested, for, if tho embankments have the effect of damming back the overflow water that usually escapes from the Waipaoa river and floods properties on both banks in the lower reaches of the river, .the likelihood of a breaxthrough at Wucrenga-a-hika would be greatly increased. Members of the board recalled that within the past .

three or four years, the Waipaoa river has been flooded to a level within an inch or two of the tops of the floodbanks on several occasions, while in one instance the banks were actually overflowed at several places. In each case, however, the flats had been saved from inundation by a combination of circumstances which were quite beyond the control of the settlers; usually the rain has ceased at a critical stage, and given the ebb tide a chance to clear the danger-points in time.

It was further instanced that the near-floods of recent years have been caused by falls of rain greatly in excess of those responsible for the actual inundations of previous years, and that if rain were to be , experienced on the same scale as in 1916, for instance, the likelihood of the flats being covered would be very great. The point was emphasised that if the projected railway embankments wore to offer any additional hindrance to the clearance of the lower levels of tho river, the fate of the flats almost certainly would be sealed, and many settlers would suffer losses. Members of the board noted the assurance of the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. A. E. Ransom, that ample eulverting would be provided in connection with the proposed embankments, and it was agreed that the extent of this provision was a matter with which the board should rightly concern itself. The upshot of the discussion was that the board resolved to seek an interview with the District Engineer, Mr. 0. G. Thornton, for the purpose of discussing fully this sub*