HARBOUR DEVELOPMENT.

Auckland Star, Issue 291, 9 December 1925, Page 6

HARBOUR DEVELOPMENT.

The scheme of harbour development that the Harbour Board's engineer put before the Board yesterday is of firstrate importance. It is an attempt to plan comprehensively for the needs of the port for many years to come, which in itself is a merit. The plans include new wharves, reclamations, docking accommodation, extension of ferry passenger accommodation and new arrangements for vehicular ferries, and a boat harbour at St. Mary's Bay. The whole scheme is estimated to cost five and a half millions, but this will be spread over a long time, and Mr. Holderness estimates that the requirements of the port for the next five years will be met by an expenditure of £375,000. Five and a half millions is a great deal of money.. It is nearly .twice as great as the Board's present aggregate of loans. To commit the port to this expenditure will therefere be a very serious step, which should ndt be taken without the fullest consideration. The business of the port is growing rapidly, and that much more accommodation will be needed is obvious. It is wise to plan ahead. The question is whether these plana are the best possible plans. It must be remembered that they are superimposed upon a scheme that has been freely criticised. Mr. Holderness' scheme of extension may be admirable in every way, but we would urge on the Board the wisdom of calling in other expert opinion before adopting it. Some time ago we suggested that it would pay the Board to obtain a report on the whole question of harbour policy from an , eminent harbour engineer abroad, and in our opinion this scheme of Mr. Holderness', by its very size and cost, sharpens the point of this suggestion. ' No reflection upon Mr. Holderness is intended; what is meant is that the public is entitled to have his plans reviewed by an engineer or engineers of the widest possible experience before the Board commits it to an expenditure of five and a half millions.