AUCKLAND DRAINAGE SCHEME

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22350, 22 February 1936, Page 17

AUCKLAND DRAINAGE SCHEME

Sir, —"Lover of Auckland's" letter pn the above subject is timely, as the great majority of our beach-lovers seem unaware of what is actually proposed. As one who has watched tide and wind tests not merely on two occasions like tho drainage authorities, but on hundreds of occasions in all weathers, I would state that the very closest investigation will be 1 " required before tho authorities should be permitted to remove the drainage outfall from just inside Auckland's front door to our front garden. The tajk of the largo volume of water in the vicinity is mere camouflage, as the discoloured stream from the present outfall can frequently be clearly traced for more than two miles from Orakei on a ralm sea. .The vicinity of the new outfall is so nearly landlocked as to be almost a lake, so much so in fact that the late Sir John Logan Campbell refers in his book to Brown's Island as an island set in a lake. The Orakei scheme came into use in 1914 and only eight years later the Harbour Board found the harbour pollution so bad that it called for a report from its engineer. The latest experts state of an outfall at Manukau Heads "that to adopt it would be to anticipate the requirements of the distant future rather than to provide for the needs of the present time." The Brown's Island scheme or any other scheme to provide for the needs of the present time will be out of date before completion and, therefore, too costly even to contemplate. Auckland is not an old city fast decaying, but a more youngster growing faster than even local residents are aware. The time is ripe for a meeting of protest by tho residents of Waiheke —who will have to travel to and fro through a stream of sewage far greater than that at Orakei—yachtsmen, swimming clubs, users of Motuihi and other beaches, and all lovers of Auckland generally. T. McKnight.