ONE TREE HILL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 163, 12 July 1928, Page 7

ONE TREE HILL.

CHANGE OF CONTROL ASKED DEPUTATIONS TO MINTS TER. ROAD AND DOMAIN BOARDS. MR. McLEOD IX FAVOUR OF PRESERVATION". "As one who is not interested in local concerns, but as one who takes the national view of the matter, I am strongly of opinion that these volcanic cones must not be cut about. For such practices to continue in a big city like this amounts to vandalism."

The speaker was the Minister of Lands (the Hon. A. D. MeLeod) and he was conmenting in a general way on the r-marks of Messrs. H. Dobbie "and R. G. Clark, who were waiting on him as a deputation this morning to ask that the One Tree Hill Domain Board should be rested in the One Tree Hill Road Board. At a later stage a larjrer deputation waited on the Minister on behalf of the Domain Board and surrounding local bodies to object to the proposal of the One Tree Hill Koad Board. Disfigurements to Cones. Mr. Dobbie. chairman of the Road Board, said that what they objected to most was that the hill was in danger of being destroyed. Twenty years ago there was just a little burrow, but since then so much scoria had been taken out that there was now a big hole on the side of the hill which if continued would constitute an undoubted disfigurement. He felt that men who would permit such a disfigurement were not fit to be in charge of the domain. At the request of the Minister, Mr. O. X. Campbell, Commissioner of Crown Lands for North Auckland, gave information concerning the practice of quarrying for scoria on hills around Auckland. He said that it was now provided sanction nmst be obtained and that the work must be carried out according to regulations. The Minister: Are notices posted in the domains intimating that people who take scoria will be prosecuted? Mr. Campbell explained that quarrying was being done by local bodies only, and he questioned whether notices were necessary. Mr. Dobbie tiien explained to the Minister how some time ago the On* Tree Hill Road Board had put down a bore in the hope of finding water and thus save the additional expense of pumping from the Onehunga Springs. This was cheeked by the action of the Domain Board in laying down impossible conditions. The board fixed a charge of one penny per thousand gallons, and as the pumping would cost fourpence per thousand gallons the scheme was too costly to proceed with. Instead of helping them the Domain Board had adopted a hostile attitude. Control by Boarfls Favoured. The Minister: I suppose it is largely a matter of how far the influence of this park extends, whether it is one of magnitude, or whether it merely concerns tlie local body in which it happens to be placed. 1 am very anxious, as Minister in charge, that as far as possible these parks shall be under the control of boards, who will develop them in the interests of the community as a, whole. That has been accomplished in Christchurch, and also in Wellington. Those two cities have decided that the administration of their parks shall be carried out with a policy which concerns the community as a.whole. Up in Auckland the situation would appear to be more concerned with local interests. Mr. Clark also spoke at some length with a view to showing that the time had arrived for a change of administration. He said the One Tree Hill Road Board would be quite agreeable to administer the Domain in conjunction with Mr. A. S. Bankart, as the largest adjoining ratepayer, or with a representative of Cornwall Park Trust. The Opposing Forces. The second deputation consisted of representatives of the Domain Board, the Mount Roskill Road Board, the One Tree Hill Road Board, the Onehunga Borough Council, and the nominees of the Government. As in the case of the former deputation, it was introduced by Mr. W. J. Jordan, member for Manukau. Mr. R. G. Speight, of the Onehunga Borough Council, expressed the opinion that the main'reason that had led to the proposed change was that which concerned water. It was only when the recent difficulty arose over the charge fixed by the Domain Board for supplies of "Water which might be taken from the bore sunk by the Roard Board that the latter had raised objection to the manner in which the Domain was administered. He maintained that the present control was perfectly satisfactory to the residents of the districts concerned. Mr. G. E. Tansley, of the Mount Roekill Road Board, spoke in similar strain, and Mr. M. H. Wynyard, one of the nominees of the Minister of Land on the board, spoke of One Tree Hill as providing the finest example of Maori earthworks and battlements in New Zealand. Mr. Charles Bagley, as a member of the board for nearly forty years, brought i under the notice of the Minister all that had been done by the Domain Board in making it the finest domain in the Dominion. "Finest Park in N.Z." The Minister, in rcpl;-, raid he looked upon One Tree Hill in conjunction with Campbell Park, as the finest city park in N.Z., and he thought as one generation followed another the people of Auckland would look on this possession in a different way from the way they did to-day. He would not express a final opinion. He had only a few minutes to look through the records before leaving Wellington, but he knew it had been correctly stated by tlw? deputation that no complaint ha'] I reached the Government concerning the I manner in which the park liad been manI aged. With reference to the removal of I scoria, he personally, and the Governiment generally, agreed that every effort should be made to prevent the disfigurement of the scenic volcanic cones round ! Auckland.