EASTERN DEVELOPMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15566, 25 March 1914, Page 11

EASTERN DEVELOPMENT.

Sir,—l was • astounded to read . that the Jermyn Street route had ; decided upon . by two committer M ■ the best traffic outlet. It appears to have been considered -as the only one worthy of notice, when there is another .one infinitely its superior in every respect, vis., from St. Stephen's Avenue, at its junction with the Manakau Road, down Gladstone Road, through the. back end of the Campbell's Point ta:rk, by a cutting, and by an embankment across the mud flat on St. George's Bay, to she mouth of the old sewer at.King's . Drive. My _ reasons foe very respectfully .claiming this to. be the very best new traffic outlet- are:—'That an easier grade ' can be . got than by -» Jermyn Street; fiat no compensation "will be paid to anyone, the route heing all public property; that the congestion of traffic in Upper Symonds Street will be avoided by the Gladstone round route; that it will open up to tram traffic an important suburb at present ' quite isolated, and bring it within three minutes of Queen Street; that there is by this route no risk of loss of money, whereas there is an element of speculation in the Jermyn Street proposal ? that no loan will be wanted, as it could be constructed out of city current resources, and our city fathers are rather prone to borrowing and want checking ; that the . Gladstone Road line would settle the university site's proposal, for if the Government took . over St. Bryde's and the Gillies properties, they would "nave a magnificent site for the university, only three minutes by electrio tram or taxi from Queen Street that students (as well as the public) would have the use of Campbell's Point Park; that Auckland University would become the rowing university of New Zealand, and be almost unique in having the magnificent Waitemata for aquatic exercise and sports; that if this plan were adopted there would be no need to buy the . Gillies property as a park, as the public- could have the use of the Judge's Bay Beach until it is inevitably destroyed by the dead level boulevard, rail,. and road ways, round from the Freezing Works, past the Kilbryde and Gillies waterfront, under Point Resolution, and so on across Hob-, son Bay to St. Heliers, with a branch road and railway to St. John's Lake, and so on to ioin the Main Trunk line at Penrose; by the abandonment of the Gillies Park idea the reclamation of the whole of Hobson Bay from Point Resolution to Orakei Point will the sooner be an accomplished fact, and the making of another dock for this side of the harbour ... at Orakei Basin, be greatly advanced; also the connection of the Orakei model suburb be brought into immediate purview, especially now that the Government has secured the greater part of this block, which otherwise will remain, isolated,- as Gladstone Road has been for a lifetime. Some £7000 is. I understand, invested by the Drainage Board to increase till it ia required to make the seawall across Hobson Bay. Let us bear this in mind and look ahead. ...

I am not one of those who would' vote against the Gillies Park purchase, as I believe that people in less than 20 years hence will be able to condemn the present generation as utter fools, if it is rejected by the ratepayers. But seeing that Parnell is pretty well provided with parks I maintain that it would be better to drop, the idea of the Gillies purchase, in the light of the very big question of a site for the university. No site is offerins in the market to compare with the Kilbryde and Gillies Estates, Of course I assume that the Harbour Board and Auckland City Council will be patriotic enough to stand aside and let the Government, buy the land. Let the Harbour Board refrain from destroying the scenic beauty of the point, and use its big suction dredge for filling up purposes, and let the City Council co-operate to make the approach to the university site, as I propose, and so kill two birds with one stone. If the Gillies Park only were the question I would vote for it,' but new will vote against it. ' Parnell axd Citt Ratepayer.