INCREASING PROTEST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 290, 8 December 1931, Page 3

INCREASING PROTEST.

DOMAIN ROAD SCHEME, MR. HUTCHISON'S VIEW. "CAREFUL REVIEW , OF CRITICISM. The more publicity that is given to the City Council's proposal to push a new motor road through the Domain the more people come forward to voice their objection to the desecration of a ' unique eecluded forest dell. When seen ! this morning the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchicon. said, ' : Any criticism offered by interested parties will be carefully reviewed by me before anything is done." There was a report in the city that the work had been started, but this was denied emphatically by the city engineer.

Commenting on the criticism that has been levelled at the proposal, the Mayor said: "On a number of occasions from the public platform I have personally expressed my own view that rather than spend money at present on distant reserves it -would be preferable to develop those reserves within the city area, so that more use could be made of them by the public. It should be made clear that only a portion of the proposed road touches the bush at all, and when members of the council made their inspection of the site I suggested that, as many of them were laymen as far as botanical knowledge was concerned, expert advice should be sought. The result was that a report was obtained from the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, and it was entirely favourable to the scheme. The contour of the piece of bush-clad land through which the road will pass is such, that it not suitable for walking, and the road will not interfere with the existing path for pedestriarifi on the other side of the stream.

"One critic has suggested that the area should be kept safe for children, but I am confident there is not a parent in Auckland who would allow his child to visit this part of the Domain except under escort," said Mr. Hutchison. "Unfortunately there are parts which are the haunts of undesirables, necessitating constant police patrol. My opinion is that by opening up the Domain so that it can be more safely used by a larger number of people than care to frequent it at present the City Council will be carrying out a good work."

City Councillor's Protest. One of the only two members on the City Council who opposed the making of the new road was Mr. J. B. Patereon, who, as chairman of the parks committee, showed that he fully realised the value and inviolability of the city parks and reserves. This morning he said the correspondence and interviews that had appeared in the "Star" were entirely to the point. He had raised his voice in the council against an act of destruction that was nothing short of sheer vandalism. The public would have to wake .up or that part of the Domain would be irretrievably ruined. The public had been led to believe that only a few trees would be cut down, but that was entirely erroneous; hundreds of trees were growing on the route of the new thoroughfare, and others, adjacent to the cuttings that would have to be made would be destroyed by the debris that would be moved to give the cutting the necessary batter.

. "It is true," said Mr. Paterson, "that there is a number of exotics in that part of the Domain, but the plan that was originated by the late Mr. T. Pearson, superintendent of the parks, and myself, to reafforest the Domain with as many native trees as possible in suitable localities, would mean that in time practically all would be replanted, and in years to come the result would have been appreciated at its full worth by the community. The Domain, is public property and I say 'Hands off' as far as commercialisation is concerned. The public should resist to the utmost any such attempt to ruin one of the most charming bite of the Domain." Mr. Patereon mentioned that a few years ago there was ft proposal to lease Domain road frontages for building purposes. That scheme was strongly opposed and the result was that all that part of the Domain still remained a public park. "This road," concluded Mr. Paterson, "is absolutely unnecessary. Though we all agree that work should be found for the unemployed, the public does not

want that work to be found at the cost of the destruction of this fascinating part of the Domain. To show what cutting this road through the Domain really means, let me give an illustration. Supposing anyone were to suggest continuing ORorke Street through Albert Park to connect up with Victoria Street, what would the public say? Just imagine what a row there would be! This newroad through the Domain ie just as randalistic. I trust the public will raise its voice in no uncertain manner againet this desecration."

" Weak Excuses." '•I am amazed at the Mayor's weak excuses for committing a gross act of vandalism in the Auckland Domain," writes Mr. E. Howard. "In the first ' place lie says that the scheme was approved of by the New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, whose policy, I understand, is one of preservation of our beauty spots, yet, if I remember rightly, this same institute approved of cutting the kauri out of Waipoua Forest. Surely a layman is as good a judge as the Institute of Horticulture of what is beautiful. Secondly, the Mayor says that the Domain is haunted by undesirables: therefore, the Domain should be removed. Does he not think that it would be better and cheaper to remove the undesirables? However, I can assure the Mayor that since the Domain has been patrolled by the police the undesirables are a thing of the past. I know what I am talking about, as I pass through the Domain on foot three times a day, and have done so for many vears.

"The £9000 that the council proposes to spend on this unnecessary road could ■well be spent on improving the footpaths in the Domain, and, ae Mr. H. E. Vaile suggested, laying out the ground around the Memorial Museum, which lends itself admirably to such a scheme. The Domain is a public reserve and recreation ground, and as such should not have a network of motor roads running through it. The present footpath down the hill to the bowling green is the only path where a pedestrian can walk without being 'honked' off the road.

"The present drive through the Domain will serve the traffic for the next 30 years, and as nobody asked for or wants the new road, I cannot understand the council's attitude in the matter. I would suggest to all citizens who have not seen this beauty spot, that they do so at once, and I feel sure that they will come away with the determination that this act of destruction shall not be proceeded with."

Appeal to the Citizens. Mr. A. H. Hooper writes urging citizens to take immediate steps to see that the Domain is not ruined for all time. "To do nothing," he says, "means that in the future all will stand appalled by the sight of motor traffic flowing through our beautiful Domain, just as it now flows past the busy cross roads at the intersection, of Symonds Street, Karangahape Road and Grafton Bridge. You citizens who have done great things for your city in the past, the city needs your service again. Gome fco the rescue of the people who look to you for a lead when their official representatives fail them!"

"Outrageous ProposaL" Were the Mayor to persist in the proposal in the face of oppositioa from eo many responsible sections of the city, his action would be high handed, said Mr. J. Kenderdine. "The thing is outrage ous," he said, "particularly as the road is not in the slightest required. It can do no good, and will do much harm." If a road were considered necessary, it would be possible to continue the west end of Stanley Street up in a gradual curve through the paddock to the right of the path that at present runs straight up the hill. Such a road would never need to go through the bush at all, and, on an easier grade, could come out about opposite the ponds near the kiosk.

For the past 60 years, said Mr. Kenderdine, he had been a lover of the peace and the sanctity of the dell, -which in many respects was unique in a city of the size of Auckland. A road through it would clog the stream, kill the fern growth, take away the freshness of the place for ever, and leave the trees perpetually shrouded in dust. Mr. Kenderdine thought that a public meeting should be convened. "Unfortunately I am an invalid at present," he added, "or I should make it my business to interview people and keep on interviewing them about it."

Dell and Stream Unique. After revisiting the site, and going over carefully the route of the proposed road; a prominent Auckland botanist who formerly gave his approval of the scheme, now reverses his opinion, especially as he sees that the little stream is likely to be spoiled. "It would be a calamity if anything happened to that brook," he said, "and there is great danger of it if the road is commenced. The danger will come not so much from the actual road when it is "finished, though that will take away the tranquillity of the dell, as from the earthworks and the spoil, the invariable concomitants of road-making. Gangs of workmen cannot but help tread down and destroy the small trees, and loads of earth will be tipped into the stream and choke it. To sully this spot, an asset of progressively increasing worth to the city, by a road which could be made elsewhere, even supposing it to be necessary, would be criminal."