OCEAN BEACH DOMAIN BOARD.

Evening Star, Issue 12805, 5 May 1906, Page 11

OCEAN BEACH DOMAIN BOARD.

The. meeting of the above Board arranged to be held yesterday afternoon lapsed for want of a quorum. Tho following is the annual report, to be submitted at the next meeting: The baths were let in June last to Mr C. G. Hellyer, and he and his wife and family have cairied out their duties as caretakers iu an excellent manner, fully justifying the appointment. The sea water has been let out every month at full moon, all heavy seameed, stones, and surplus sand removed, and the dressing boxes, open shed, and terraces have bkien kept scrupulously clean. Repairs at a cost of £3O have been carried out duiing tho year, the two principal items being the painting of the residence {fill) and eunciete work (£10). There has been cons durable wear and tear to tho concrete surrounding the basin, and your Works Committee should be asked to report to the Board on the advisability of raising the northern end about 6in, which would deepen the water all over, and form at the same time a smooth platform to enable ladies and children to enter the baths in comfort. The iron fencing will also require attention at the north-east coiner, and possibly extending se.iward. The pile groins at St. Clair were for some time considered by some people to be costly experiments, but th.y have proved the.r utility in a very marked degree, and whereas a few years ago the Board or the Government were faced with a probable and suggested expenditure of £20,000 to stop sea encroach, inent, groins, at a total cost of £SOO, have not only effectively stopped ere* ion of the foreshore, but have built up the beach from 4ft to 6ft over an area of many acres. The first and second rows of piles having almost disappeacrd in the accumulation of sand, the Board will consider the advisability of ing the Government to complete this excellent work by placing one more groin of a substantial nature (extending it somewhat further seaward) midway between the twe at present showing. During the year the Sandhills facing the sea, from St. Clair have been planted with both marram grass and lupins, and a vast improvement has been the result. Instead of continual erosion by water and wind the too of the hills from Beach street, St. Clair, to the racecourse at St. Kilda has been considerably raised, and a liko effect has been brought about by the same drifting on to the marram grass planted on the top of the face grain from the racecourse to Tahuna Park. The entrance to the beach at St. Kilda has been improved by the extension of the load a further distance of chains, making six chains in all from the tram lines. The placing of scrub groins and subsequent planting of marram grass upon tho accumulated Kind has proved to be a most effective method of reclaiming and making up this foreshore, and only requires to be continued at the proper time and place to completely do away with the troublesome lagoon. This work should be extended seaward about six chains altogether in two Eections of three chains each, taking care to inako good the first section before commencing another. This will bring the outer boundary in a line with the Sandhills from St. Clair, and twelve chains from the tram line in Victoria road, opposite the Queens Drive. The sanitary work has been conducted! without fault, and the thanks of the Board due to Ranger Edwards and his men for tEe carrying out of a difficult service both day and night in all weathers. Tlte public road through the domain-has received due attention, but requires about fifty yards of metal to put it in fair order. The season has b;en good for marram grass, and has produced a mag-

i nificent crop, 'especially i>* the sewage, treated portion of the Sandhills, She lupin continues to sprea4 hjs leaps and hounds, i In conclusion, rt may here be remarked that the Board's planting operations, a work irnich is excellent in/ itself, should only bo regarded as preparatory to the greater work which must follow. When thei last patch of sandhill is covered with verdure, and the encroachment of the sea no longer possible, jjt will then bo the duty of the municipal representatives to lay out with walks and drives, and make plantations of such shrubs and trees aa shall turn this once barren waste into a magnificent marine park, not to be excelled in any other part of New Zealand. In the meantime, the sea no longer encroaches at St. Clair, nor is the sound of a gale any more a terror to the people of St. Kilda-"' "