THE DOCK SITE. DISCUSSION AT THE HARBOUR BOARD.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 29, 4 February 1908, Page 2

THE DOCK SITE. DISCUSSION AT THE HARBOUR BOARD.

FOR AND AGAINST A CHANGE. Owing to the lateness of the hour at which the meeting was held, the discussion at the Harbour Board meeting yesterday on the advisableness or otherwise of changirfg the dock sito from Te Aro to Evans Lay could be but briefly reported in The Post. After Mr. Fletcher had stated his case, and tho motion affirming tho desirablenesr of changing ,had been seconded pro forma by the Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop), Mr. Wilford moved as an amendment —"That the secretary be instructed to ascertain from the contractors for the dock, and report to the board, whether they are "willing to cancel their present contract, and upon what terms." He submitted that Mr. Fletcher had begun at the wrong end. If his motion was passed the board would be at the mercy of the contractors. Tho proper thing to do was to see if the contractors were as public-spirited as they had been represented. If the board passed the motion it would lose its reputation for business sagacity. Mr. Shirtcliffe, in seconding the amendment, remarked that he agreed very much with the arguments advanced by Mr. Fletcher as to the suitability of 'the Clyde-quay site ; but the board would need full expert information before deciding on a change to ; another spot. If the present contract v.-as terminated the board should obtain reports on all possible sites. OBJECTIONS TO A CHANGE. Mr. Harold Beauchamp said the question had agitated the board more than any other one .that had been debated. In* 1888 Mr. Napier Bell had said the site subsequently chosen was tho best 'one in' the harbour for a dock. Mr. Fletcher said the site might bo used for a wharf. • Surely the argument about wind would apply equally* to a wharf? He could hardly believe Mr. Fletcher's statement regarding silting up a,t the dock site. Commander Dawson of the Penguin might be a very good master of a warship, but he had only visited the harbour in a desultory way. The dock would cost the Harbour* Board £15,000 per year, and the deficiency would have to be met by increases of dues. In Auckland, even with endowments aud a subsidy from the Admiralty, tho Harbour Board was losing about £14,000 a year. He would sup T port the amendment. In tho course of his speech the Mayor said that he had not yet been convinced that the present sits was not as good as any other that could be chosen. Still he was quite prepared to ask for further reports. ■ Mr. Townsend asked if the board was not under an obligation to build the dock on its present site by virtu© of the Act of Parliament? The Chairman said it was quits clear that members did not understand the position. The sito was chosen as a result of negotiations with tho City •Council, and agreements which could not be varied, because they were matters of law. He ruled that neither tho motion nor amendment could be put. Mr. Wilford (as recorded in The Post yesterday) gave notice to move his amendment as a substantive motion.