NEW FERRY WHARF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20599, 25 June 1930, Page 15

NEW FERRY WHARF.

BIRKENHEAD AND NORTHCOTE SITE IN LITTLE SHOAL BAY. The request for a new wharf at Northcote has resulted in a recommendation by the Auckland Harbour Board engineer, !Mr. D. Holderaess, that any work car- / ried out should take the form of a modern wharf in Little Shoal Bay, based on an embankment connecting Birkenhead and Northcote. The matter is still under consideration and no finality can be reached ontil consultation has taken place among the several bodies concerned. Mr. Holderaess stat.es in his report to tbe board that the matter of a more up-to-date Wharf for the Northcote ferry service was dealt with by him in 1927, when be stated that the construction of a new wharf on' the present site would add materially to the annual charge for the provision of ferry facilities snd that the existing wharf could be maintained in a safe condition for a considerable time to come. It was then forecast that tbe animal cost of maintenance for the next three or four years would not exceed £7OO. The actual cost had been:—l 927-28, £542; 1923-29, £492; 1929 to date, £297. Before considering the construction of a new vrharf at Northcote the question of the more suitable site should form the subject of negotiations between the Harbour Board, the Northcote and Birkenhead Councils and the Town Planning Board. The present site of the wharf had certain outstanding disadvantages in relation to run of tide and exposure to westerly weather. In regard to the suggested wharf in Little Shoal Bay, Mr. Holderness pointed out that it appeared possible to give grades not exceeding 1 in 15 from the wharf to the business centres of both boroughs. The existing grades reached 1 in 11 at Birkenhead and 1 in 13 at Northcote Tbe embankment across the bay would link with Arawa Street in Birkenhead and Talbot Street in Northcote.