WAIATARUA PARK.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 62, 15 March 1922, Page 10

WAIATARUA PARK.

FROM A SWAMP. i i i:K. KKATION AREA. . . >!; i c| r ID I'ANMIRK. fcix yi-utw apu l-ake St. .lulm. or Waiatarilii In </wr it the .Nfaori num.', !..-i-.j t>> ii~i- rtitli the winter rains ami .|.-«i mi .1 i-miplf oi liiindi-fil ui-TOi* ol soiiu- ..; !..... ri.-!ic.-i !aii.J on the ibtli:iiiis. Kvtn ■II he -Ulllllier Illi' fdjli'- >>1 the lake urn' not much lii-tler than a quagmire. iiiid :«-i.lr- in)-.* an.l !uo.-uiiito.s the ..nl\ ihiu-- linn f»..i n hMlig \vnliin >.-\ .■ml rliaiim nf the deep water were -tray ina-. suiiK' uf lefi tlti'ir huiies in ihi , rvvamp a- a warniiij; !•> •tli'T advc-iiuiroUri hovini'>. Xlieu came Mr. I!. 11. Abliotl ivitli liif scheme for t'ltiui'lljiif. , t lie liiill along whirli the l.'emueruM. Helirr's Jia.\ road runs, tii'.u, making a dram thai would lower ;h- level ..1 tin- lake m>wtul feel and iree ilii , eiui|il- uf Hundred nf ai-ies. of laud thai formerly -pent a wry Koppy e\istfner. Ihe i.lea worked out spleiiiiiilly. and today the lake is c-on-lined (o forty acres o£ water that ha« a constant level. I'm- the Auckland pulilie the point thai interest* them in the regulation of Ihe lake i< tliat they now |X>*cess a ]>ark uf t.sii hundred ai're- which take; in the lake and a valuable stretch of land rouiiil itn It was ?>Tr. Abbott '■-hd gave the park and it remains for ■ iie people to turn it Int" that vvill be unique, l.yinjt as it ducat till , ImttOltl Hi' till , long -Topi's tlill' fall iron, St. I ollejre mi the east. tin , l.;uh- *\iile on the west, tile Re-i,iueia-St. llelicr's I.ay Tiiail on the mirth, and the picturesque M-uriu i-olin--liv nn tile eolith, the lake and circular park nffor wonderful npportunities for effective treatment. I'hi , proposals for iiie park include a jrraud drive riyht round the hike, and this will connect up with a new road tiiiit is now Iveina put in from the l.a.lie^. . Mile. This new road, which is forty rliains lon S . will, when finished, bo one of the lirt-i in the district. It uone hundred feet wide (instead of the usual ti(i feet) and lined both bides with plane trecr-. At the en-tern end ol this road the Auckland City Council is putin a .-hort stretch of twenty-five chains through the park area to connect up with another new roaJ that has been put in from the L'anmure end. starting from the I'anmure-Hllerslie Road quite cli»-e to Mount Wellington. These three roads open Up about a thousand aiivs of land, including all the Church of Ensland property between the lake and St. John's College, arid the large stretch ot liiflit. bush and scoria country that runs from Ellerslie practically through to I'anmure.

Kveutually tins urea from the Rein-nera-St. lleliers Buy Road to the Ellers-lie-Panimire Roa<l miw earrv a ];irj*p papulation as the city jyrnws.' and then the value of the Waiaiania Park will be appreciated. But in the meantime there a lot of work -that could lie done at very little expense. The margin of the lake is quite flat, and it could be put down in tieldjT for. £10 an ii.ro. and consequently if a small part wore thur treated it would give a splendi.l playing area for Kemuera and the surrounding districts at a trifling c<xt. Access to the park can be gained l)y liio new road which has been run in from 1.a.1ie.-" Mile, but There is also another road running in from the Reirmera-St. lielierV Hay Road, so that wlion the time roines the park wiJl be quite accessible. To anyone who has known the •country any length of time it i≤ surprising liow the lake area Ims been improved and how easily the neighbouring land has been opened up. For years it was a sort of no-man's land, but the costly roading scheme that has been carried out by Mr. Abbott and the neighbouring landowners has quite changed that *tate of thing*.