DEVONPORT PROGRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19236, 27 January 1926, Page 14

DEVONPORT PROGRESS.

EXTENSIVE CONCRETE ROADS. MAIN STREETS PROVIDED FOR. COMPREHENSIVE LOAN SCHEME. Devonport has made giant strides in the course of the last year with its scheme of street improvement. Old inhabitants say they cannot remember any previous year in which so much advancement was made in all that goes to make the conditions of life pleasant in their town •—in the re-formation of main roads, in attention to the condition of the borough reserves, and in the general smartening-up of public places. All the main streets of Devonport aro now either laid down in concrete, or are in process of being so formed. The total concrete formation completed is roughly six miles in length. Of tliis, 5£ miles have been constructed within the year just ended. It is now possible to drive on a concreted surface from Devonport Wharf along King Edward Parade, and out along Cheltenham Road to Cheltenham Beach. In the other direction, the main road from Marine Square out to the back of Mount Victoria has lately been finished in concrete, and forking from it in its Albert Road section there is one concrete road extending out to Nerrow Neck, while the main Lake Road has been concreted to within a few chains of the boundary between Devonport and Takapuna, and will soon form part of the long concrete ribbon that will extend from the wharf as far as the end of Takapuna at the Wairau Stream. Another important formation in the same material, lately finished, is that of Old Lake Road, from the present Lake Road to Narrow Neck beach. A link of only a-bout half a mile remains to be formed in the vicinity of Narrow Neck, to give a complete circuit of concrete thoroughfare around the eastern portion of the borough. Advancing from the main centre in the westerly direction, the council is also concreting Calliope Road. Along these smooth causeways, the inhabitants of the outlying parts of the borcragh are served by brisk motor-bus lines radiating from the main centre of,traffic. Loan for Work in Side Streets. The operations of the past year do not leave a great deal to be done in the future with regard to the permanent formation of the borough's main streets. The "secondary streets are now to receive special consideration. New loan proposals are to be submitted to the ratepayers in February for the raising of £220,000, chiefly for expenditure upon these streets, in re-forma-tion and bitumen surfacing. If the proposals" are agreed to and carried out, there will be few boroughs in New Zealand so well, equipped as Devonport in regard to street formation.

Other portions of the loan proposals will provide for the' erection of a town hall with municipal offices, and a. new public library. An up-to-date fire station has been erected in Calliope Road in the course of the year, at a cost of £3400, with provision for residental quarters and a social hall for the brigadesmen. The completion of the scheme of protection from fire by the. installation of an electric alarm system will be one of the features of the new loan proposals.

Laud for building purposes is now becoming rather scarce in Devonport, but the Borough Council has assisted in providing sites for the people's homes by subdividing a reserve of 21 acres at Narrow Neck, which formed part of its .endowments. Glasgow leases in this area were submitted to public competition recently. Out of 71 allotments offered, all but 12 were at once taken up at an average rental slightly above the average' Upset of £l2 4s a year. It is known that a number of the lessees propose to huild homes within the coming year. The Stanley Reclamation.

The recreation of the inhabitants is being provided for ; at the Stanley Point end of the borough by the reclamation from the Waitemata of 7£ acres of the Stanley Bay Park. The work is being carried out in conjunction with the Auckland Harbour Board, which is pumping silt from its dredging operations into 1 the proposed park area, under a contract arranged with the municipality. The reclamation is now approaching completion.

Steamboat communication between Devonport and the city continues to be handsomely provided for by the Devonport Steam Ferry Company. Another fine passenger steamer, the Toroa, was added during the year to the company's fieet, and another vessel for tho vehicular traffic is on the stocks. The provision of the new concrete wharf at the Devonport end of the service is still in the future, but if the expectation that the Harbour Board will carry out the work in 1926 is realised, Devonport will have little fault to find with its traffic arrangements. Building in the borough has been brisk in the last 12 months. Altogether, 182 building permits were issued, representing a proposed expenditure of £70,000. Of these, 57 were for new dwellings,, as distinguished from shops, garages, and enlargement of existing premises.