CONSERVE BUSH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 33, 9 February 1939, Page 22

CONSERVE BUSH.

"NOW IS THE TIME."

WAITAKERE PARK PLAN.

CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL ?

Thn riiy can secure other kind* of

nn-niori»U ill iniy Hme. lint if ()„, ~p,,0 r. funity In not taken to secure Hip hush in iln- Wait.ikeres, the champ will ha\e Xf'lie for 01 iT,

This wn* the main nnd common ll.ouu'hl in -ill the speeehe, at a public " 'ins cMiivened last by t|,,. Wailaknre National Centennial Pink iiii/i-iiK , Association, for the purpose o , loruardlng the scheme to make ;||,- lily's Centennial memorial a Jll.imiii a. i•• .■•■•er\p in the ranges. Thr meet in" piv ■ided '.ver by Mr. K. Karl. Vail," »,,. i'cld in the Lewis Kady Hall. There wa■l inr at tendance. \fr. (j. W. Hutchison, on behalf of the \'iji>nii>hilp Association i \n. khui.l.. of "Inch lu> is secrctarv. promii>eil i -ill "f £.-.00 |f the plan «eie adopted The speakers were live: \|,-. llul.hi H f 'n (a former Mayori, Mr. \ aile. Sir •lamen Parr (another ronin-r Mhmh- and fnip time Hijili t ommissiom-i in London., the Hon. T. Ulooduorth, M.L.i .. ,m<l Mr. W. R. MHii-eyj,,-. lecturer in /i.o|,,yy ,i I th» Auckland l'ni\er-«ity ( nllegp. Decision for People. Those (i> decide the form of the memorial, said Mr. || ui ,-i: i -on . -houl.l b» the people of Ihe eil \ . not local authorities. Referring lo aimilu'r (en tcnnial scheme, a. chair of old colonial history Ht. the \ nek In ud Iniier-iiy I olli'Lfe. he said tll.lt the pr<ipo-al u,i s so nlmtrnct that throiij.'h the war. it - origin would he fiirirot leu. viliile its hcnelli iill'ies ixould relatively be few. As for tin art I'entre. while he the present iicconimiida tion fur I lip city's* Art '.alien wa-> inadeipiiil e. he pointed out thai such .i liiiildiiiM would eo-l perhaps £2.".1).1VM) t<! £:i(HMMNI, not eonsideiillLT the price for land. The memoiial -lioulil be one which could be paid for now. and not left to posterity to pay for. "TllO matter is. one for ." he I added. "The busli on the rnujfe, ir< and if anything is to be done it nhoiild be done quickly." He was authorised In the council of hi- association, ho snid, to promise the| V'ift. of £">(H) for enmpi nn sites and for! allied facilities. The council was iinani-l moii«ly in favour of the project. In the meantime (he association would donate th»> sum ot JCIO 10/ towards preliminary | expenses. History of Park Proposal. Mr. Viiile jinvo a. brief resume ot the history of the park scheme, stating tlmt of the 20.000 ncres surest,.,! about half was in standing bll«h. The eont estim«tpd by the Auckland City Council wn« £.10,000. Of that amount £1.1,i2u0 hud boen jfiven or promised, leaving i1t1,7.")0 to he found. The urea desired whs that, between the council's waterworks reserve and the went coast. The point of view of the tourist wa» taken by Sir .Tame* Purr. While Hiuh ('ommiwiionnr in fxtndon, he hud been told by returning tourist* that what they liked l»e-.t. aliont the Dominion was it« natlvo bunh. "It would be little less *han a. crime to neglect thin opportunity," he declared. New Zealand could odd considerably to its revenue and to it« important industries by encouraging tourists. If th« area under consideration was secured antl if a road was made to the sea and to the Manuka u, the city would have a road unsurpassed In the world. Tourists with but a few day* to spare in Auckland would cover the whole area of the ranges. Most Appropriate Memoii/L It would be a most appropriate memorial. Once the bush was jrone it could never be replaced. A noble kauri took 10WI years to grow. The time to decide wa* now. The story of the Waitakere* wa* one of waste and destruction. "No other memorial in my judgment can compare with thix," he said. Auckland, said Mr. Blondworth. oujrht to have sometliinjr unique for its memorial. Other cities had hills; hut no other city had a kauri forest so near its doom. What the committee wanted to do, he added, wm to arouse the interest of the people of Auckland. It warn tor them to decide. Another important point was that the sum of .00,000 was within the financial reach of citizens. Showing a series of lantern slides of the ranges, Mr. McGregor spoke of the bush from the botanical aspect. The vegetation of the Waitakeres, he said, was unique, and one of its interesting feature* was the abundance and rapidity of it* regeneration. The meeting unanimously carried a resolution proposed by Mr. Vaile and seconded by Mr. 0. M. Fowlds that the Waitakere Park should be adopted a* Uμ chief centennial memorial.