STREET-WIDENING MUDDLE

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 9, 5 October 1927, Page 14

STREET-WIDENING MUDDLE

MR. H. D. BENNETT EXPLAINS DELAY ADMITTED EARLY RESUMPTION OF WORK LIKELY That a good deal of delay was due to the decision of the committee to acquire certain property in order that the widening might be made to a greater extent than the road reservation, was the explanation given by Mr. H. D. Bennett yesterday, in replying to the article headed “Street Widening Muddle” which appeared in yesterday's “Dominion,” and having refer, cnce to the widening of the Queen's Drive, Kllbirnie Mr. Bennett, who is chairman of the Works Committee, said there was admittedly some delay in beginning the work, when the widening of Childers Terrace was first authorised. A decision was then arrived at to widen Queen’s Drive at the Courts Street corner within the road reservation. A concrete wall had actually been commenced within the reservation, when strong representations were made to widen the road beyond the area reserved for the toad, which meant an encroachment on to private property. The value of that proposal was made apparent to councillors when the Works Committee made a special visit to the locality. At a meeting held on the spot it was decided that it would be better to hold up the work and arrange for the purchase by proclamation of the private property at the corner (Mr. Boyd’s). With a view to a further extension of the widening it was also agreed to acquire the frontages of the three or four sections on the same side between Courts Street and Cruickshank Street. That was done in November, 1926

Engineer Department Understaffed. The acquisition of property for this purpose could only be done by proclamation under the Public Works Act, and this required the preparation and submission of detailed plans for approval. The holidays then came along, and it was not until the end of February that all the officers were really back in harness again. The records showed that it was not until July that the Department was able to submit its plans to the Government, and approval was gazetted on September 22, although the city engineer’s department was not officially notified until September 30. The matter could not, therefore, come before the Works Committee finally until its meeting on October 12, said Mr. Bennett.

He admitted that the attendance of the workman night and morning for the purpose of lighting that locality had been going on ever since, and perhaps even before November, when the other work was in hand. Taking into consideration the well-known fact that the city engineer’s department had been short-handed for a very considerable time, the delay in the’ preparation of the plans would not be considered altogether unreasonable. Early Start Probable.

In regard to the future, the Works Committee at its next meeting would consider ways and means of financing this work, which would be a fairly big job, but Mr. Bennett said he was hopeful of being able to recommend that the work be proceeded with almost immediately. -AVitli the purchase of the frontage of the properties between Courts Street and Cruickshank Street, and the acquisition of the neecssary land at the end of Childers Terrace, the committee would also consider the question of rounding off the corner on the opposite side. This land has been given by Mr. Ibbotson, and was made over two or three months ago. No doubt the committee would look into the question of widening the road from Courts Street up to Cockburn Street, where there is no footpath at present, and the road is largely used bv children going to and from 'Lyall Bay School, which is just over the top of the rise. Confusion Regarding Locality With regard to the paragraph in yesterday’s article as to “the offer of Mr. Stellin to dedicate an area at Queen’s Drive for the formation of a high-level path,” Mr. Bennett said there was evidently some confusion as to the locality, because the proposal referred to by the Mayor was for a high-level footpath on Mr. Stellin’s property, at Queens Drive, Houghton Bay. It is the same Queen’s Drive which proceeds through Lyall Bay to Island Bay, but the report did not say which part. Some time ago one of the members of the deputation which waited upon the Works Committee suggested that some propertv owners had encroaclied on the road reservation in Queen’s Drive, but residents who have lived there for 20 years—onlv two vears after the houses were built—sav there has been *W encroachment, and that the fences are where they were originally placed.