RAILWAY HOARDINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 200, 24 August 1926, Page 6

RAILWAY HOARDINGS.

From all parts of the Dominion have come* protests against the Railway Department's policy of erecting advertising hoardings in positions where they form a blot on the landscape and disfigure an otherwise fair view. The Domain hoarding and those in KJiyber Pass Road are examples of the mischievous activity of the advertising branch, both of which still remain in spite of strong efforts to secure their removal. The Department asserted that it did not countenance the erection of hoardings "to the detriment of scenic beauty epots"; but, in view of the facts, these professions cannot be accepted seriously. Now comes another protest from the Mount Eden Borough Council, not against the defilement of a beauty spot, but against the erection of hoardings on the railway bridge in such a position that they constitute a menace to life. That bridge, many feet narrower than the road which it serves, and without a footpath on the eastern side, is menace enough, both to motorist and pedestrian, without the deliberate addition of any complication, and though appeals to the aesthetic sense of the Department may be futile it is to be hoped that the humanitarian appeal may fall upon a more receptive ear. The council could order removal if the offending structures were on private property, but the Railway Department suggests that it is above the law. It is satisfactory to note that the council will not be satisfied with making a protest, but will test the legal position if its request meets the same consideration as that accorded all others. One member even suggested that the borough should tear the offending hoarding down; that sounds like an extreme step, but when life is at stake .there is justification for something beyond the ordinary interchange of persistent requests and continuous refusals.

While on the subject of hoardings, perhaps we nlay be permitted to inquire whether the Borough Council has any influence with the Mount Eden Bowling Club. True, the members, when at play, turn their backs upon the hideous "offence ,, that surrounds their green, but making due allowance for that, bowls must be a fascinating pastime when its devotees can - play unperturbed by their knowledge of its existence. Do not any of the councillors' play bowls?