Rivers Commission

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6180, 14 February 1922, Page 2

Rivers Commission

Report to Parliament ALLOCATION of costs STATE, COUNTIES, AND BOROUGHS DIVIDED CONTROL ANOMALY ON THE WAIH >U RIVER The report of the Waihou and Oliinemuri Sivers Commission,, appointed last year to inquire, --inter alia, into tho allocation of the cost of thewoiks authorised under the Im. provement Act of 1910, was laid on the table of the House of Representatives last week. The commission consisted of Messrs H. J. H. Blow (eeairman), W. S. Short, and George Buchanan. THE COST EXCESSIVE

In a general survey of its conclu* sions the commissioners say: ‘‘ The estimated total cost of the work as disclosed in tbc evidence (£650,000) is so largely in excess of the original estimate (6130,000) of the 1910 comm ssion that to apportion the annual expenses among the contribnto:s involves payments at so high a rate as to render it doubtful whether it will be pos.-ible for the contributing authorities to bear them. It is of the utmost impot tanep, therefor?, that the costs of the works should ba reduced if at all practicabV. The commission entrusted to us diet in t empower ns to enquire into the enginee ing aspect of the case, bat in view of the importance, and even necessity, of reducing the cost, we thiuk the engineering aspect of the matter should be carefully ii quiied into. It seems to us that matoiial economies are practicable, and It also seems questionable whether some of the land proposed to be protected is really worth the great o&tof protecting it. The area of land to be protected by tho proposed stop-bank ou the east side of the Upper Waihou, betwei n Mangaiti and Paeroa, is somewhat limited. If the whole of the stop-bank ou that side of the river between these points were ommitted. and also the entiie stop-bank on the left bank of the Ohinemuri River as far as the rail wl7 bridge, and if the Petvniki cut is put in, it seems pro. babla that the land that would be prejudicially affected by flooding could bo acquired and subsequently, ioso d with an acknowledged liability to fl jodiu-r, and that the difference between tin purchase and the sale prieu would be litrely to bo cou»iderably less thau tha eost of protecting it would amount to. It is quite likely that the putting in of the Pereniki cut would, so greatly relieve the Ohiuemuri "River when in flood that the iuundafed area without the stopbanks would not be vastly in excess of the area liable to fliod with a stopbank on one side, as now proposed. PEUVATE GAINS .

“ It was brought to our notice that some works had bean carried out which seemed to us to be more in the nature of drainage of private lands than a public drainage scheme. Psssibly it was the iutentiou oE the Depa traeut to recover the cost from the private landowners under section 16 of the Act, though it seems a little doubtful whether the provisions of that section would extend quite a 3 far as this. PROPOSED TONNAGE RATE “ In our report we have suggested that the oounty and borough councils should be levied upon for the amounts considered to be faiily payable by the settlers of the district towards the annual expenses of the soheme, the local authorities to have power to levy a special rate to reimburse themselves for this outlay. DIVIDED CONTROL ANOMALY The lower portion of the Waihou River is within the jurisdiction of the Thames Harbor Board, but it seems to the commissioners that the body which is to control the rest of the river (s>y, 70 miles in length) should also control the last few miles at the mouth. There are two wharves in this latter portion of the river, at which we understand wharfage dues aro collected by the Thame j Harbor Board. If the commissione l s’ proposal to charge a tannage rate on all imports to or exports from the river, instead of wharfage, is adopted it would be advisable to make this clia»ge apply to the wharves ou the lower roach of tho river, as well as to those higher up the stream. It is a matter, therefor, for the Government to consider whether the Thames Harbor Board should not be relieved from admiuisteiing any portion of the Waihou River. LOAN TO WAIHI

“ The Borough of Waihi is in finaneial difficulties at the present time, and if, pending a reairaugement of its liuancts, it coaid obtain a tem. p nary loan of £IO,OOO the Mayor is of that it could tide over its difficulties and also would be able to pay the interest ou the loan. The municipal debt at Waihi is comparatively small, due to the inability of the borough to borrow on the security which it is able to offer, but if the Government could seo its way to guarantee a loan of £IO,OOO, this difficulty would be overcome. METHOD OF ALLOCATION In nur.wer to the fi-sfc specific que?t? on nut to if, the commission reports as follows : Tlio allocation under clausa (D) sub-rection (4) of section 17 of the Waihou and Ohincmu i Rivets Improvi meat Act, 1910, of the cast of providing from April 1, 1921, the interest and 'sinking fund on aDy lean raised for the purpose of carrying out the works authorised by the Etivrs Improvement Ao f , 1910 t g-ther with the co t of admiuislratiou and maintenance, is not under existing conditions fair and equitable, aud the following should bo submitted thereOne half from the Consolidated Fund. One fourth from the counties and boroughs (other than Waihi) within,

the river district in the undermentioned proportions : Thames C>n ity 4 per cent., Hauraki Plains Oounty 33 per cent.., Ohim-mu l C .unty -o per cent, Piako County 15 pm; rent., Matamaca County 7 per cea Hi turns Borough 3 per cent, Paeroa B-.r ugh 7 percent., Te Aroha Borough 6 per One half the gold duty (mclii hag therein the goldfield* levcnue) *eceived from mining in the rivet < i~trict lu the event of the gold du y falling helow £SOO per annum the Government to reraiu £250 per annum and in the event of the duty falling below £250 the Government to retain the whole and the Waihi Birough Council to pay the difference between the amount retained and the sum of £250. . , A charge against all compauiis and persons discharging mullock, tailings, slimes* or debt is into either the . Waihou or OLinemuri Rivers or their tributaries, such charge to be at the rate of Is per ton on all mullock or other mate rial. 90 per cent, of which will not pass through a 150 mesh screen, and 4d per ton on all ore crushed to the fineness specified, REPRESENTATION ON BOARD

Under section 20 of the Act provision is made for a board to control the river improvement scheme. The constitution of the board there is stated to be 1L members, representing the Ohinemnri County Council (two members), Thames Oounty Council (one), Puk- Ooun y Council (one), gold mining eompan’es discharging tailiDgs inti the rive ( r wo), the Gov-ernor-General (two). Waihi Borough Council (one), rate payers of the river district, except the Waihi Borough ( lWfl ) * Dealing with this tho report says the on the b.ard provided for in sectiou 20 of the Act should be varied as under : The board shall consist of five members, to be appointed or elected from time to time as follows : member (being the person holding for the time being the office of district; eugiueec of the Public Works Department for the Auckland district), to be appointed by the Goveruor-Geueral; one member to be elected by the ratepayers of the river d strict within the Hauraki Plains County: one member to be elected by the ratepayers of the river district withm the Thames and Ohinemnri Counties and the Thames aud Paeroa Boroughs ; one member to be elected by the Piako and Matamata Counties and the Te Aroha Borough; one member to. be appointed by the Waihi Borough Council; the Government appointee to be the chairman of the board. On the basis of £i3,OUO-odd, being the figures given by Mr Baker, the annual payments payable by the local authorities would bo : • £ Thames Couaty 436 Hauraki Plains County 3,595 Ohinemnri County 2,725 Piako Couuty 1,635 Matamata Couuty 763 Thames Borough 327 Paeroa Borough 763 Te Aroha Borougb 654