Sir, Bill Faulkner's aside at Regional Council for lack of funding to help dredge the Kopurererua Canal in Judea Valley is both unjust and flawed.
The interesting history of Judea Valley includes Maori Mythology, a historical waterway link up the original meandering Kopurererua Srteam through to the present canal construction.
I have a copy of the original land owners holdings and the canal plans dating back to 1924. The Judea Drainage Board was formed to help drain the low lying swamp land for farming, with the land involved then, having a rateable unimproved valuation of 10,893 pounds. The scheme to widen and straighten the old stream bed was carried out for these landholders.
The inference that the Catchment Commission regularly maintained canal to my knowledge is not credible. The Commission was not least interested in such work in Western Bay, except latterly for the Kaituna scheme. By the time Regional Council came into being, the harbour outfall to Kopurererua Stream had been plugged with a new industrial area at Judea. This was done without any provision to take the inevitable flow of water from, that previously flooded the now industrial land.
The inadequacies of past planning now became apparent and surely rests firmly in the Tauranga City lack of foresight...The answer no doubt may involve widening the Judea road bridge and lower canal to take the higher water runoffs. Interesting no one from local government was interested in preventing flooding of farmland in valley except the farmers, but now having a city problem, the Regional Council are scapegoat for past inaction.
G L Mackersey, Whakamarama.