HARBOUR BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5896, 31 December 1880, Page 4

HARBOUR BOARD

The ordinary meeting of "the-Qtago Harbour Board was held in the Board's offices, Cumberland street, yesterday afternoon. There were* present: Messrs K. Ramsay (chairman), H» Guthrie, J. Mill, G. C. Matheson, R. Pater■on, H. J. Walter, A. Burt, H. S. Fish, jun.,. and CaptainLogan, CDMBEBLAND AND JETTY STREETS. A letter, was reecived from the Town plerk stating the result of the recent deputation to the Hon. Mr Oliver re the removal of the* Harbour offices from Cumberland street andl the opening of Jetty street. Mr Fish said he did not know that the Board could do much in the matter, which was| really one for the public to take up, bofe

fee could not help expreßßing the opinion that the position taken by the Minister for I'nblic Works was eatirely untenable. At the conference between the Government, the Chamber of Commerce, the City Council, and tho Board, it was agreed, among other things, th.it Cumberland street should be opened to a piece of ground closely approximating to the Anderson's Bay road. At that time there was no talk or thought of the Board's offices being taken by the Government for any purpose whatever, and it was assumed as a necessary consequence that so toon as the street, or a portion of it, was opened, any obstructions •upon it, including the Board's offices, should be removed so aa to allow the traffic free course. Now that tli6 time for opening the street had arrived, the Harbour Board wan prepared, and was perfectlylwilling, to give up the occupancy of the offices at a moment's notice, but was not dsposed to do so simply to allow the Governmer t to occupy them, but only in ortWr that tun building might be removed. The Minister bad laid great stress upon the point that if the (offices were occupied for public purposes the Corporation ought not to insist upon the removal of the building. If that were so, it was more reasonable that the Harbour Board should continue to occupy the offices than that they should leave it for the purpose of allowing the Government possession. What they had bad to consider was the interest of the public generally, and in particular the interests of the people who had rented ground from the Board, and he contended that the authorities should combine to have all obstructions cleared from the street as soon as poasible. The Board was prepared to quit the < mean, but he thought it would be perfectly right for the Board to refuse to leave uDtll the Government gave a pledge

that in the interests of the Board's tenants and of the public the offices should be pulled down without delay. If there had been the slightest promise that the Government should occupy the officeß for a certain time he would not have said a word against it; but the matter was an afterthought put into the mind of the Minister by the head of the Public Works Department (Mr Blair), who had all along opposed the Board in the discharge of its functions, and who had endeavoured to thwart the Board and other public bodies. There seemed some -misapprehension with regard to the affair, and he had been rather amused by an article in the Daily Times wherein an attempt had been made to defend the position taken by the Minister of Public Works. If he did not err, the editor of the Timec, who was a gentleman noted for his erudition, the deepness of his knowledge, and the thorough. ness of hia acquaintance with local topics, expressed the opinion that it was a pity that the Harbour Board, when they had "the offices built, did not recogniae that Cumberland street was to be extended, and asenmed that the mistake the Board made was in supposing that Castle street was to be extended to the Anderson's Bay road. As a matter of fact no man in his senses would have imagined that Castle street was to have been extended, because it would require to have passed through the centre of the present steamers' basin, or if the basin had been on the site previously proposed, to have shut up all acosus to it. At that time no one was aware that Cumberland street was to be extended, and the office site was chosen as the most conTenient. When the compromise alluded to was arrived at circumstances changed, and the change involved the extension of Cumberland street and the removal of the offices. The Board and the other authorities having completed their portion of the contract, he contended that the Government were bound to

complete their part, and though he did not as a xule advocate strong measures, he would not be •reuse to be one to make a hole in the building if the Government would not consent to its removal. That the building was a serions obstruction to the street he had no doubt, and lie did not hesitate to say that if the building were removed the street would be largely used, and that the necessity for its removal would commend itself to the bulk of the mercantile gentlemen of Dunedin. The opening of Jetty street wai, he thought, a matter of even greater importance to the mercantile public than the matter to which he had referred, but as he believed a deputation of merchants would wait upon the Minister with reference to it, it wts 3uA desirable to discuss it at any length. Mr Fish, however, repeated his statement that though at the time the conference took place the closing of Jetty street was assented to almost without discussion, there was a determination on the part of the majority to reopen the question at another time. It had been •aid that the opening of Jetty street would render useless all the operations that had been carried on in connection with the new rail way - station site, and destroy the effect of work which had cost L 50.000. This statement, he could affirm upon the authority of a gentleman well qualified to judge, was utterly unworthy of credence. The Railway Department, headed by Mr Blair, it seemed, represented that it was absolutely necessary to have an unbroken line of railway communication in front of the sheds from Battray street to Anderson's Bay road, and to place across Jetty street what was termed a "railway gridiron." He bad been informed that the idea was absurd, and that the street might verjr well be opened, for if the gridiron was removed a little farther south all difficulty would be obviated. Allowing that it would ba a little more convenient for the railway if the gridiron waslacroas Jetty street, still, if that interfered with the mercantile interest of the town, the railway people must give way to the necessities of traffic. If the mercantile public made a firm demand in the interests of commerce, he considered that the Government would be bound to make the concession, and the reasons for making the demand were very cogent. He felt certain that if the matter were pressed upon the Government with the force of mercantile experience, it would be found that the difficulties existed simply in the red-tape ideas of the Public Works Department, for he believed that one of the officers of the Railway Department, if consulted in the matter, would give an opinion directly opposed to the opinion given by Mr Blair. Mr Ramsay said that Mr Fish had correctly -stated the facts of the case. So far as the Board's offices were conceinsd, it had never been the intention of the Government to occupy them, and when the matter was submitted to arbitration it was not expected that the offices would be occupied after the Board left them. He thought the Board as a public body would be wrorjg in vacating the offices, ejeept for the purpose of their immediate removal. He did not knowthattheßoard could have much to say about Jetty street, but he expressed the hope that the Government would see its way to open that street, and thought an a public body the Board might interview the Minister on the subject. Mr Pateeson agreed that it had never been intended that the Board's offices should be oc-

cupied after the Board hid left them, but he thought the opening of Jetty street was a question for the Chamber of Commerce to move

Mr Fisrc said it should be ncderstoad that the Harbour Board wanted to give up possession of the offices, but did not want to "vacate them for the purpose of tbeir being occupied by the Government. _Mr Rams at : Yea ; we are quite willing to give them np if they are to be at once removed. 'THE BAB AT THE HEADS. Mr William G. Alexander, of Woodlands, Sydney, and formerly mate of the W»katipu, wrote on the deepening of the channel across the bar at Fort Chalmers aa follows : — I have the honour to bring under your notice the subject of deepening the channel across the bar at Port Chalmers, for the purpose of asking you to lay ■before the Harbour Board for consideration the proposal of a friend of mine, who offers to effectually perform this work and to deepen the entrance over the bar to any required number of feet. He has explained to me hia method, and I am satisfied that it is capable of accomplishing all he claims for it. This is Us proposition : 1. That the Harbour Board should defray hia and my expenses from Sydney and back. 2. That a steam launch should be placed at his serTice, with crew, &c. 3. That the Harbour Board lay out £150 for machinery required. 4. That in the event of his having succeeded in deepening across tho bar 400 feet in width, and 100 yards in length, and two feet in depth, in the space of 60 days, such days to be counted only on which the launch could keep on bar (on account of bad -weather), the Harbour Board should pay him the sum of £5000. 6. That in the event of his failing to accomplish this, no demand should be made against the HarDour Board beyond what is stated in the first condition, which, however, must include living expenses. Should the Harbour Board decide to try this plan, telegraph for us to como over, and the work can be commenced in one week from the day we arrive in Dunedin. Mr Bubt : Well, it's a very good offer.— (Laughter.) Mr Matbeson :It is an urgent matter, and requires attention at opce. Mr Mill : There is more in it than yon imagine. I believe he could do it. The Chairman did not think it was worth while taking up time with this, and suggested that its receipt should be acknowledged. Mr Walter dissented. He thought that the offer should be sent to the Works Committee for consideration. The Chairman was always willing to encourage enterprise, but if the letter was read through carefnlly it would be seen that it contained a very crude proposal. In any event there would be a considerable outlay, and if the scheme were successful the bar would only be deepened two feet at a cost of LSOOO, while with the dredge they expected to deepen it considerably more than that at one-fourth the coat. It was agreed to refer the letter to the Works Committee. ACCESS TO THE PENINSULA. The following letter from Messrs Sievwright and Stoat was referred to the Works Committee :— It has been proposed by an association of gentlemen ■who are desirous of providing the citizens of Dunedin and the settlers of the Peninsula district with a more convenient means of access, to construct a carriageway on piles across tho harbour from the end of the Jetty street Jetty to the nearest point of land on the opposite side ; such carriage-way to have a width of not less than 10 feet, and a footway on each side of not Josh than four feet wide, due provision boing made for the passage of shipping. The consent of the Board and its approval of the plans will no doubt bo required on making application to the Government for perto carry out the proposals of the promoters,

and Wo have been instructed to request that the Board will consider the matter and favour the promoters with its opinion as soon as convenient. It la believed that the construction of the jetty on the line indicated will not interfere with the tidal flow to any appreciable extent. The promoters would require, in order to recoup them for the proposed outlay, to have for a certain number of years the right to charge r. toll for the use of tho road. THE DOCK. The following letter was referred to the Works Committee: — Dunedin, December 23rd, 18S0. To the Harbour Board, Dunedin. Owing to having to lighten the s.s. Plucky to get her into the dock, and as at the most of times there is barely sufficient water to take in the class of vessels that frequent the dock, we would respectfully request your Board to take it into consideration, and try to make arrangements to give us two feet at the one end extra and IS inches at the other. We expect both the Clifton and Frederick Bassil (barques), and owing to being compelled to lighten tho Plucky in both these instances, it has made the owi.ers rather afraid that there is too little water on the dock sill to take them in without danger. Trusting that the Board will be able to grant our request, as it leaves us at tho present time, after all the expense of shifting the dock here and putting her in thorough repair, in'a position that we would hardly know what to do. Pro Floating Dock Company. James Winter, miscellaneous. Mr Fish said that the captain of the Plucky had informed him that a portion of the channel inside the bar was now silling up, and he suggested that the matter should be inquired into —Referred to the Works Committee for inquiry. Accounts Amounting to L 2461 12s lOd were passed for payment. The Board then went into Committee.