IS THE SEA A HIGHWAY? '

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 2 August 1923, Page 8

IS THE SEA A HIGHWAY? '

, • • ( WATERFROXT SUBDIVISION < PROBLEM. J I ■ ■ < The question of reasonable access to lections by means of the sea, under sec- ' tion 10 ol the Public Works Act, 1911, was the outstanding feature of ah application for subdivision of a block of 17 acres at Island Bay, Birkdale, made to the Birkenliead Borough Council by ilr. A. O. Jarrett. Both the applicant and 3ii9 solicitor, Mr. Andrew Hanna, addreesed the council last night in further-since-of the contention that the sea was a public highway for the purposes of that Act. . Mf. Jarrett gaid he had been endeavour- r ing for the past five years to get the C consent of the council to the subdivision, I the frontages being to the sea in the y inner bay. The wharf was built over p nine years ago, but a gap of four chains « separated' it from the road. The bay c •was leheltered from winds on three sides ]| by Mile, and the island itself —30ft to <j 40ft on one side and 50ft on the other — c modified the southerly winds. For up- + -wards of eight years all the supplies for r a poultry ranch there had been landed t liy launch and the imports and exports, I apart from timber and materials for : buildings, amounted to £10 per week. There was no precedent of a council with- * holding consent to a similar application. The judge in the Assessment Court last year told him the council wag wrong if they prevented him giving sea frontage?. He had lor 15 years been developing this area for a seaside resort, which would be an attraction to the district.- Mr. Jarrett, mdded that it would cost £3000 to £3000 to make a road at the back of the ?ection; An- expenditure of £70 in cutting away the cliff would widen the approach i to the wharf from sft to 12ft, and enable people to drive to the wharf, and also within a tew yards of the cottages, I when the tide was out. 1 The Mayor, Mr. E. C. Walton, said the ' COUOTiI had visited the land, and would give the application judicial consideration, and communicate its decision to Mr. Jarrett. It was resolved to refer the matter to the council in committee, the Mayor to consult the council's solicitor, and report.