NAPIER HARBOUR BOARD.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 231, 12 September 1922, Page 6

NAPIER HARBOUR BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the Napier Harbour Board was held this morning. Mr. A. E. Jull presided. HARBOUR CONSTRUCTION. Reporting on works which would carry the Inner Harbour construction well into 1923, the engineer (Mr. F. Finch) stated:—Simultaneously with tho deepening of the entrance channel between the piers and the an. dredging of the swinging basin in front of the West Quay, it is here proposed to construct in reinforced concrete sheet pilework a permanent breastwork to replace the existing 1000 feet of decayed timber structure The West Quay as at present is about 1300 feet long, from Iron Pot corner to the boat ramp near the old Westshore bridge. For 300 ieet from Iron Pot it is of concrete piling, which need not be constructed. Tho remainder of the breaswork—about 1000 feet—is decayed, and must be reconstructed. From the southern end of the quay and in front of the new breastwork a first section of wharf should be constructed ,about 500 feet long by 32 feet wide, to allow of an ultimate depth of 34 feet from low water to be dredged eventually. Pending the continuation of the deep water wharf, the depth of water attainable in addition to the 500 feet referred to, would be 20 feet from low water for a length of 800 feet, wheras at present the available depth varies from 20 feet to 5 feet from low water. The offer of the Napier Returned Soldiers’ Association of £l2O, with a possibility of another £l2O being available. was accepted, and will be subsidised by the board with a view to giving work to unemployed returned men. The engineer said he had work waiting, reclaiming near the embankment, on which he could profitably employ men. The matter was left in his charge. . x .. The question of contributing to the Pearson Fund for the blind was deferred pending the question being settled as to file disposal of a special fund raised by tho board during the war lor rniief of tho board’s employees.-—Mr. TT. J. McGrath said this fund might ba drawn on.—-Mr. Jull said twentythree blind soldiers were included in the number to be dealt with under tho new fund, and this would justify them in donating from the fund in hand, j which was not now being used. There was a discussion on a ques-i tion of taxation supposed to effect harbour boards . The chairman said it was proposed that land leased by boards should be taxed in the same ,way as private lands. He thought some people wrongly considered taking money from local bodies for the Treasury would improve the financial position. Apart from that the endowments were given so that boards could draw revenue and use this to open their ports. The proposal was to deny the boards the benefits they were supposed to be gaining. He moved that the board protest, and point out tliat the policy advocated was not in the public interest. Mr. Langridge seconding, said the money had to be obtained by the board one way or another, and if it went to the Treasury from the board the people would have to meet tho amount in taxation by the board.— The motion was carried. The Union Company wrote, asking if vessels of deeper draught could be allowed into the Inner Harboure now that there is an extra depth of water. The board decided that they could not allow any increase at present, owing to the Harbour Master, Captain White-Parsons, reporting: that a change was not advisable at present.