MARINE PLAYGROUND

Evening Star, Issue 22470, 15 October 1936, Page 10

MARINE PLAYGROUND

DUNEDIN'S FINE BEACH DOMAIN BOARD'S ANNUAL INSPECTION PROBLEM OF SHIFTING SAND With football, hockey, and croquet grounds, and a delightful walk from St. Clair to St. Kilda, Dunedin has a splendid playground in its Ocean Beach Domain, the condition of which to-day is a tribute to the enterprise and careful planning over the years of the Ocean Beach Domain Board, a body which is always considerably restricted in its activities by the important factor of the lack of finance. On the seaward side of the sandhills, on the beach itself, the position is not so happy, a considerable amount of erosion having taken place during the past few years. Yet there is still _ a fine beach, and the board is doing its utmost with the resources at its disposal to counter the action of the sea in shifting large quantities of sand out to sea. , , This morning the board paid its annual visit of inspection to the domain, the members present being Messrs John Wilson (chairman), W. A. Scott, F. Wilkinson, J. J. Marlow, J. L. M‘lndoe, and M. Sjlverstone. The party was accompanied hy the board s secretary (Mr R. A. Johnson) and the foreman of works (Mr L. Wraight). At St. Clair the members were able to observe tbe inroads which the sea has recently made upon the sand, large heaps of rocks at the foot of the Esplanade which had lost their covering of sand showing how_ much has been swept away. A cut, in fact, had been made along the beach for half a mile from the St. Clair end. Though the bench was not nearly as high as it was several years ago, it was pointed out that within the last few days there had been an improvement as the result of the ever-recurring processes of Nature. In parts the board’s policy of erecting scrub fences had been encouraging in the retaining of sand, and this would be continued. The walk from St. Clair to St. Kilda, which was traversed by the members, was found in good order, and the marram grass on the sandhills appeared to be flourishing, also the evergreen ice plant, which in places formed a nice decoration to the side of the path. Kettle Park, which is mostly used by the pupils of the St. Clair School, was found to have a very satisfactory surface, and good progress was seen to have been made with the construction of a ladies’ hockey ground beside it. The verdant green of the croquet lawn presented a striking picture this morning, and the courts of the St._ Clair Tennis Club also seemed to be in fine condition. During the course of the walk from St. Clair to St. Kilda one of the members remarked that they had something to be proud of in the continuous barrier of sandhills which now stretched right along the sea front. Years ago there were_ gaps through which the sea occasionally made an invasion, and he remembered that, once about the beginning of the century, hasty work had to be done in filling bags to prevent the waters of a lagoon from surrounding Onslow House. At St. Kilda it was found that the work carried out by the board and the St. Kilda Improvement Association* had transformed the previously unsightly entrance to the beach into a really attractive place. The surface of Hancock Park, on one side of the entrance, was found to be very satisfactory, while on the Lawyer’s Head side of it was another piece of fairly level surface which it was hoped would soon also be converted into a playing area. At St. Kilda a meeting of the board was held, various letters recently received being dealt with. The City Council advised that it had decided to make a special grant of £369 to the board to enable it to meet charges for material and cartage in connection with No. 5 unemployment scheme works carried out on the Domain. The St. Kilda Council advised that, for the same purpose, it had decided to contribute £3l to the hoard in' addition to the statutory levy. CONTROL OF DOGS. The St. Kilda Borough Council advised of its decision _ with respect to the control of dogs in the streets of the borough, and asked that the board support its action by prohibiting dogs on the beach in the interests of children and the public generally. Several members stated that dogs were a real nuisance on the beach. The board’s by-law, it was stated, prohibited the taking of a dog into the surf within a quarter of a mile of anyone who was bathing. Mr Silverstone: Is the by-law strictly observed ? Mr Marlow said a number of people had approached him and represented that it would be very hard if they were prevented from taking their dogs for a run on the beach. It was decided, after discussion, to give instructions to the board’s staff to keep the nuisance under control as much as possible. . SEATS ON ESPLANADE. The St. Clair Improvement Association wrote stating that it had decided to supply the frames and timber for 12 seats on the new portion of the esplanade at St. Clair, the board being asked to undertake the assembling and the painting. It was stated by the Chairman that the seats were already in position, and it was decided to thank the Improvement Association for its contribution. PLANKING ON GROYNES. The Hon. F. Jones wrote stating that in view of the limited resources of the board and the serious consequences which might result if repairs to the protective works at St. Clair Beach were not undertaken early, he made representations to the Minister of Public Works in support of the request to the Government to provide approximately £65 to enable the board to renew planking on the two groynes that were erected in 1921. The reply he had received from his colleague was as follows: —“I have perused the report from my department on the matter, and it appears that no maintenance has ever been done by the board since the groynes were erected, and the timber planking has nearly all disappeared. It has been reported to me that the sand seems to come and go with the vagaries of the weather, and that within recent years the depletion of the beach sand has happened on about fee occasions, and has been replaced by natural causes. As the Domain Board is in receipt of certain revenue it would appear that the work of maintaining the groynes should be attended to from this revenue, and I do not think this is a case where Government assistance is warranted.” The letter was “ received,^

MARINE SURVEY. The St. Clair Improvement Association wrote drawing attention to the serious erosion of the beach during the past few months. The work being done by the board, it was stated, was fully appreciated, and. was felt the board was alive to the seriousness of the position. It was suggested that, owing to the low state of the beach, the tune was opportune for matter to be taken up with the Marine Department and that representations should be made for the services of a Government engineer in the matter. The Chairman: We are directing our attention to scrub fences as much aa possible to encourage the sand to deP °Mr M'lndoe: Why not follow out the suggestion in the letter and see what comes of it? , ... The Secretary said the matter was brought up several years ago, # It was stated then that what was required was a marine survey up and down the coast. Now the Government had decided to proceed with a marine survey of the coast of the Dominion, and that would probably take some years to complete, Mr M'lndoe suggested that they might ask the Government to make this part of the coast one of the first Mr SiJverstone said it seemed a good idea to try to get some information from the marine survey. They might inquire of the Government the intention of the survey. „ It was decided to write to the Government seeking information as to the scope of the survey. DANGERS TO LIFE SAVERS, The New Zealand Surf Life Saving Association wrote drawing attention to the danger of life savers being cut by the barnacles on the seaward end ot tne niles on the beach at St. Clair and of the life line becoming entangled round he piles. It was recommended that tne piles be taken out altogether, or that they be boarded up It was stated that the latter course would assist in buiidig np the sand round the piles. It was decided toreply board had no funds with which to carry out the work. SERVICES APPRECIATED/ The Chairman made reference to the very fine work which had been earned out hv the board’s foreman (Mr L. Wratoht) in suprvising various operatho board during the past tew vears. His time, said the Chairman, had always been at the disposal of the board, and ho bad a great deal of trouble with some of the jobs.—lt was decided to increase the foreman* wages and to grant his a month a holiday on pay.