Playground in Forest Ramparts

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21647, 13 November 1933, Page 18 (Supplement)

Playground in Forest Ramparts

On the heights there in re|>o«e. Goethe. G CARDING tho western door of tlie city only Jj miles from Queen Street, extends a i*;i m |>:i i't of forest-clad hills destined to be ;i great playground for the people. Good roads, capital and enterprise must before long make the Waitakero Ranges as ])ieturesque a holiday resort to Aueklanders as the Blue Mountains are to the citizens of S\dney. No town in New Zealand has a more priceless natural possession within easy reach of its inhabitants, so perfectly chosen to confer i:pon tliein the triple boon of health, recreation and happiness. Clay roads, impassable to motor traffic in winter, have been the stern gaolers of nature's garden in the Waitakeres. Only in the past jear or two has Auckland awakened to a proper realisation of its neglected heritage. The West Coast Road leading to Piha and Karckare, two of the most magnificent and iugged of tho coastal bays, is now being metalled along tho whole of its winding forest route. Similar work on the road from Waitakero station to To Henga (Bethel's) will make access easier to another of the glorious bays and beaches that grace this coast with their wild scenery. Only the selfish will regret thc> opening up of such hidden beauties. Tho liill country is spacious enough to hold both excursionists and tho thinker in search of solitude.

JJnt for tlio necessity of preserving .a largo area of bush-covered country for catchment purposes in connection with the city's water supply, the Kanges would havo been denuded of their forest glories to a much greater extent than actually lias been the case. As it is, vast M-eas of magnificent bush havo been destroyed in a thoughtless sacrifice to commercial vandalism, as witness the destruction wrought in the once-majestic forests along the I'iba coast. Such beauty cannot bo restored for centuries, and the pity of it is that its destruction lias served no useful purpose, tlio ieniotoiiess and ruggedness of the country making it unsuitable for farming 011 anything but a very small scale.

Jll recent years the Auckland City Council has mniic an effort to protect specific areas from further spoliation by the acquisition of valuable bush tracts, and their proclamation as public reserves, with a strict prohibition against the removal or mutilation of trees, shrubs and

ferns, and the lighting of fires. In such manner were preserved the 10,000 acres comprising the water supply reserve and the beautiful Cascades Kauri Park of l(3o() acres, while several other valuable scenic reserves now in the possession oi the public are the gifts of generous benefactors. Prominent among these is Cornwallis Parle, of 1927 acres, presented to the city in Bill by the late Mr. J. M. McLachlan, and extending down the hillside slopes from Nihotupu to Puponga Point, on the Manukau Harbour; Kaitarakihi Park, of <6l acres, donated by the late Mr. Wesley Spragg in 1918, and situated just to the west of Cornwallis Park; Te-Whare-o-Rangi Estate, given by Mr. Spragg in 1923, and embracing one of the highest peaks in tho ranges; and Titirangi Park, the gift of tho late Mr. Henry Atkinson in 1913. In 1914 an ambitious scheme to build a great scenic motor drive in the ranges was launched by the City Council, and several miles of roadway, now known as Exhibition Drive, was completed in the neighbourhood of Titirangi. The outbreak of war necessitated tho postponement of tho plan, and only now, nearly 20 years after, has the scheme been seriously revived. The great ridgewav motor drive now being planned will provide a 42-mile round trip from Auckland, traversing some of the highest ridges in tho ranges, and providing the visitor with a succession of spacious panoramic views of mountain, forest, plain and ocean. Even with the completion of this great drive there remains enormous scope for the better exploitation of the Waitakeres —" exploitation" being used without any derogatory implication. Accommodation houses are to be found in every bay along the coast, but the future may yet see tho creation of modern seaside resorts on tho English or American plan, with palatial hotels, golf links and amusement palaces, even if the casino is out of the question under the present New Zealand law. As the roads get better and the public which visits these wonderful surf beaches grows in number, private as well as public enterprise will find unforeseen potentialities in this now-neglected region, and tho hilltops and ridges, which at present carry a few summer cottages, will boast tho choicest residential sites in Auckland. Great houses will line the crests of the ridges or nestlo in the forest-ravines, the healthy will lloek to tho week-end beach pleasure resorts and tho sick to the mountain sanatoria, for the air on tho heights is bracing and rejuvenating.