RUAKURA SWAMP AREA.

Waikato Times, Volume 99, Issue 16653, 19 November 1925, Page 10

RUAKURA SWAMP AREA.

COMPREHENSIVE SCHEME. TtECENT SURVEY AND REPORT. (By N. G. Gribble.) We have mentioned that the Chief Drainage Engineer in his report considers that an amount of £152,000 wilt be required to carry the scheme outlined by him through to a successful conclusion, and he places the subsequent maintenance of the drainage system so established at £3OOO per annum. In passing, it may be of interest to stale that in England the 700,000 acres of fen country, which took a period of two centuries to reclaim, is now dotted with thriving towns and traversed by railways of national importance. It is estimated that the gross products run into a figure of £6,000,000 per annum. Haarlem Lake. Holland, covering an area of 44,000 acres, was reclaimed by the Dutch Government between 1840 and 1852, and it now carries a population of 16,000 people and produces much of the food raised in Holland. In the United States it is estimated that there are 350,000 square ■miles of country needing drainage, and schemes completed or in view to handle these lands are estimated to increase the national annual income by no less a sum than £54,000,000. Italy, at the present moment one of the most active of the European nations, has inaugurated a gigantic scheme under the advice of eminent American engineers, by which she proposes t to make herself independent of the rest of the world for wheat supplies. It is proposed to reclaim 2,000,000 acres of marsh land and .make it the granary of the country. • All over the world drainage schemes of magnitude are being carried out, and even in our own little Dominion we have the works on the Hauraki. Rangataiki, Hikurangi and Waihi Plains, and the time has come for a decision as to Ruakura.' "Cost" the Test. The financial aspect of the project under discussion is the one. which deters the property owners from endorsing it. The chairman of one local authority said at one meeting that "on practical grounds they could not object to the scheme: their only objection could be on the matter of finance.' Unfortunately the issue is hardly as clear-cut as this statement would imply, in that the scheme, whilst in principle it may be excellent, must be thoroughly tested and scrutinised by those "capable of doing so. To the writer's mind there are at least four aspects which need to be examined before any large proposal of this nature is launched —i.e., the engineering, the financial, the legul and the administrative. Time and treasure spent in letting light and air into these aspects will be amply repaid in the long run. and too many examples of a breakdown on one or more of these heads are existent to-day to make it desirable to risk another catastrophe. In the opinion of some of those who have given careful thought to the prospect presented by the Government report, the matter should be approached along the following lines. At' this Juncture it may be said that most of the work of collecting information and formulating any working basis at all has been done by those who appreciate that although they may not themselves be swamp-dwellers, the interest of town and country are so closely linked that it behoves us all to work for better conditions for the "man on the land." On the figures' given in the report it is not truly a matter of deriving a slightly increased return from the swamp, but of getting a handsome return from tens of thousands of acres which at present produce nothing. Further than this, unless an energetic and pronouncedly forward policy is Inaugurated, much of the land on which reclamation works have been carried out for years will revert to waste, carrying noxious weeds and pests.

Suggestions on procedure. It is considered that the first step is for the settlers to ask for the setting up of a fully-qualified Royal Commission, which should either be itself so constituted or have available to it advisers so that thorough consultation and minute examination of every phase of the proposals should be assured. The work of gathering information and data for examination should be placed in ihe hands of a body which should have made available all. the means necessary to assure that, all revclant matter is being brought forward, forward. Drainage boards and other local authorities should be asked to collate their views and have them ready for submission, and engineers, old identities, progressive farmers, everyone who can help, should be brought forward to "sav their pieces," any one of which may be of the utmost value. It should be possible, in view of the fact that it is undoubtedly free of all parochial bias t to take the suggested work of the Chief Drainage Engineer as a basis and examine fhe.m in detail It may be that an outlet can be shown to be in the wrong place or a more advantageous position may bo available. The size of an outfall may be amended, a culvert may be saved there, a fence-line followed there, instead' of cutting across a block; all these are details, and they should be examined carefully at some period, but In the initial stages the Commission would seek evidence as to whether a scheme generally on the lines of the Government report were desirable in the best interests of the district, and, if so, should it be endorsed, rejected or amended.

Financial Aspect. Having arrived at this point, it. would be necessary to consider the financial aspect—first as to existing liabilities in the nature of special loans raised and already secured over portions of the country; second as to the total expenditure of the proposed works ;tliirdly, as to proportions of the expenditure to be borne by the respective portions of the district; fourthly, as to the amount which, in view of' the general interests of the people of the Dominion in the work, should be contributed from the Consolidated funds; and fifthly, and in one way the most important of all, the Commission should advise as to the best way of providing the necessary finance on suitable terms and conditions for the nature of the work handled. There are numerous other minor considerations under this head, but these cover the main points, for other relative aspects would arise which are too numerous to be dealt with in detail. Going into the financial consideration, let us deal first, with existing loans and repayment, of them. Rumour has it that it has been stated in some, parts that all present liabilities would be lumped and spread over the whole of the suggested area. This, of course, is not the usual or the legal procedure. The lands which have in- ■

curred prior liabilities must repay them and the existing special rating areas would continue within the big scheme. It might lie possible, that, under a comprehensive statesmanlike proposal, cheaper money would be raised and some, of the existing loans at 8 per cent, (sinking fund and interest) could be paid off. but the same land would have, lo find the special rates, whatever they were. The second phase of the total expenditure would be dependent primarily on the decision of the. Commission in connection with details of the engineering portion of the work, after which the experts available would be able to fix within reasonable limits Hie probable total cost. Proportioning Expenditure.

The proportion of the expenditure to be allocated to respective parts of the whole swamp area is one on which doubtless considerable difference of opinion would exist, but generally speaking existing drainage districts would form a basis of discussion. If for instance, the Commission decided that "A," "B," and "C" Districts obtained benefits in the ratio as 2 is to ;$ is to .1, and I he expenditure to serve them jointly was computed at £9OOO, "A" would have to make provision within its own boundaries to find interest on £'2,000. "B" £.IOOO, "C" £IOOO. It should be possible by such means to fix the sectional contributions, which with a nominal levy towards the cost of common outlets, would be the full and determined proportion to be paid by the respective areas, classification within the seclion would t\x the assessable amount lo lie contributed by each holding, and so finalise tho.mntler in so far as the, ratepayer was concerned. If these lines are followed I he difficulties raised in many quarters as f'> Hie apportioning of the cost, would disap-

' pear like "the morning mist.'' The individual would under such a process gel, a full opportunity lo be heard as lo his "classification," the only mailer fixed by the, Commission being the ! ratio of the sectional contributions.