NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY With which is incorporated the NORTHERN MAIL DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1918. HARBOUR ENTERPRISES.

Northern Advocate, 15 May 1918, Page 2

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY With which is incorporated the NORTHERN MAIL DAILY.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1918. HARBOUR ENTERPRISES.

Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper.

The Whangarei Harbour Board has not been devoid of enterprise, and though sometimes the upshot has ohpwn that the schemes might with advantage have been more expansive,

or even that the*measures taken were iii.-i.mg in due conception of their iinancial wor+h there arc several rei'orms in vogue that merit much com-nx-ndation The anaua) review presented at the latest; meeting of the Bor.rd is instrvK-.iivo in several ■ par.ticiiiars.. It is significant of the growth of tr-ivli". dial, :if-twithstand ivy. the shipping exigencies of war t. : me, the receipts, hnm that source exceeded by £512 the amount which went into the exchequer during the preceding year; and the fact that a credit balance of nearly £90 was in hand at March 31st last demonstrates that progressive work was not marred by financial plunging. The request that the Oakleigh railway wharf should be transferred to the

Board's jurisdiction has the merit of

being both equitable and reasonable, since safe and convenient access thereto by water is provided and maintained at the Board's expense; therefore the local body is justly entitled to the wharfage revenue, and it in hoped that the Railway Department will 'fall in with this fair view of the situation. The Whangarei town wharf, presents an example of commendable effort in meeting shipping needs, the increase of which has decided the Board on the extension now in progress from the southern end to Doctor's Creek. Lighting and berthage generally have been made a3 efficient as possible, having due regard to financial proportioning, and the Board's next consideration here might well be the substitution of a concrete structure for the main wooden wharf now in use, which shows signs of dilapidation and involves the cost of constant repairing that would be obviated in the case of concrete. A subject of outstanding importance that again came under review was that of foreshore control. Endowments of this nature have been added to the extent of 1122 acres, including an area on the west from the railway bridge to Onemama Point and another portion on the east between the bridge and Onerahi railway station. Why the Board should be refused its request for control of all the harbour foreshores is hard to understand, since the Marin© Department never has, and probably never will do anything towards turning these areas into payable use. Beyond rare and perfunctory visits of a departmental official, which lead to no, advantage of any sort, the Marine authorities take no cognisance of their charge. On the other hand, the Board has shown by the reclamation of 86 acres at Kiore roa that it has the capacity of developmental enterprise. Moreover, the Board is on the spot, while the Marine Department's headquarters are several hundred miles away and its officials apparently indifferent to the prospects of local progres.7. The Board, in brief, can and will turn the waste areas to 'good account if given the opportunity, and it is in the nature of an incomprehensible anomaly that the Board may be trusted with partial Control and not with the whole. Here is occasion for continued representation of the most influential kind obtainable in pursuance of a highly desirable scheme that would be of vast advantage to the Whangarei district.