Ministry of Transport Files - Piako River

These files from the Ministry of Transport deal mainly with the administrative aspects of structures, reclamations, power, telephone, and pipeline crossings of waterways around the marine foreshore and in navigable rivers and lakes. There is not a lot of environmental information in these files but occasionally there is a copy of a report that deals with the environmental aspects of a structure. In about 1964 the Ministry of Transport (MOT) took over the role of licensing structures on the foreshore from the Marine Department (MD) and employed the Ministry of Works and Development (MWD) as its environmental advisers. Reports from the MWD therefore contain much of the environmental information available in these files. Purpose: This dataset provides a brief discussion of coastal information contained within historical Ministry of Transport files, collected during a review commissioned by Environment Waikato as part of the Coastal Database project. The Ministry of Transport (MoT) was responsible for the administration of structures in the CMA and in navigable rivers and lakes from 1964 to 1997. These files are now held in Environment Waikato’s archives. These files contain useful information on the history and legal status of existing coastal structures.

54/1/758: Gas pipeline crossing Tatanui, Piako River. No environmental information. . 54/2/882: Jetty Piako River. Ngatea, Hauraki Plains College ramp for school access to river. Unlicensed. 54/2/889: Jetty Puhanga Canal, Piako river Near Ngatea. 3 Photographs. No environmental information. 54/4/276: Reclamation Piako River. West side of the river at Buchanans Road 1971. Lands and Survey file 3/24/9. The dump lies near the upper limit of spring tide. Thus there was confusion as to who was supposed to manage this land (MoT below spring tide or Lands and Survey as part of Crown Estate above spring tide). No environmental information. 54/16/154: Reclamation Piako River 1971. This is a file that duplicates much material already noted about the rubbish dump at the mouth of the Piako River at Pipiroa on Buchanans Road. 54/27/153: Aerial crossing Piako River, Ngatea 1977. A storm before October 1977 damaged lines thus need for replacement. 54/1/39: Piako River, Ngatea wharf site. Photographs of D. R. Leonard’s wharf 1983. Wharf buildings removed to Paeroa as part of the Historic Maritime Park buildings 1984. 54/1/332: Slipway Piako River Hauraki Plains County Council. Hauraki County council wanted to construct a boat ramp adequate to pull out their river dredge at the old ferry crossing at Pipiroa 1971. Pocket with photos of the ramp site dated 16/12 9174. Hauraki gained approval but further investigations showed that costs of $7,000 – $10,000 would be needed to get the ramp to a satisfactory standard. 54/2/120: Pipiroa Wharf site HO 54/3/143 file starts 1957. 1963 most Hauraki Plains wharves derelict. Parry Brothers had Pipiroa wharf presumably for sand loading/unloading. Marine Dept file M4/2590. Pipiroa wharf dismantled 1977. 54/11/50: Outfall Dairy Wastes Waitakaruru 1970 Plans dropped. No environmental information. 54/11/188: Ngatea sewage scheme outfall. No environmental information. 54/27/212: Power line crossing Poutu Channel King Country 1984. Nothing environmental mentioned. 54/27/200: Aerial power line Awaiti canal 1981. Nothing of interest.

Piako River

1960 to 1984

Many files and pieces of information from the files are missing. Many engineer's reports are missing from the files held by Environment Waikato. Only includes information available on specific files. Important to note that Ministry of Works files contain further environmental information relating to these files.

Some files available as .pdf. Otherwise archived physical files.

Background information about Piako River development.

This data is publicly available in EW archives. Some can be attached for download on request. No confidentiality – public information.

Files closed. Include a note where this record continues after end date of file where possible – e.g. Dept of Conservation files. These files have been continued where appropriate but have been amalgamated and given a new file number by DOC making sourcing more recent information difficult.

Additional comments: Jetties and Wharves There were two types of jetties and wharves; those built for catching Whitebait, and the fishing boat jetty. As the local fishing industry developed, there was a steady increase in requests for licenses for jetties to load and unload fishing boats. Records in the files indicate that there was either a shortage of hardwood for jetty piles or the locals preferred to rely on piles made from Manuka or Kanuka. This is especially noticeable of the piles used for fishing boat jetties. As the fishing fleet grew so did the demand for fish processing facilities on shore. The increased number of requests for jetties for commercial fishing probably reflects the increased government investment in the fishing industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Boat ramps These appear associated with two activities. Commercial fishing or the storage of a boat used occasionally. As roads improved and boat-building materials became lighter the trailed boat became more popular. This in turn put pressure on local County Councils to either build boat ramps or license boat ramps to be built by for fishing or Boat clubs to access the water. After a burst of activity in the 1960s and 1970s many clubs were wound up leaving the structure the responsibility of the local Council. Slipways Slipway installation commenced from the earliest of settlements because most of the early communities were serviced by boat and needed repair and maintenance facilities locally. There were also some slipways constructed by local boating and sailing clubs. Related information: MWD files cover much of the environmental information