DUNEDIN SEA FRONT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14702, 9 December 1909, Page 5

DUNEDIN SEA FRONT

A FUTURE •' SHOP WINDOW." DOMAIN BOARD'S INSPECTION. A good ''sea front" is such an undeniable asset that many European cities, ami some in Australasia, treat it, as it wore, as their shop window. The resources of the mumcijinlity are taxed to make it as attractive as possible, and summer with an eye to "the beach," troop to the favoured town in battalions, Dunedin has boy* dowered to an almost embarrass, tng exfait with the beautiful. There are the green hills flecked with uorse and planta Ken.eta, the Gardens, the reserves, and Shaded walks amid the fascination of the bush—ail very easy of access. There beingso many places of popular resort, it ia jx>s- - that wore it not for tho quiet, but incessant, labours of the Ocean Beach Domain Board l)unodi-n\s .sea. front between Lawyer s Head ami St. _ Clair might have been sadly neglected. Jf boards are idle tile Sea is never so, and were ifc not for the body aforesaif, a very different, slate of things would exist from what was apparent | jestcrday, when mombers of the- Dunedin Ocean Beach Domain Board wads their | annual inspection Such a whole-hearted enthusiast as the chairman (Mr J. H. Hancock) was not likely to bo absent, on such an occasion, and with him went Messrs W., Burnett, J. ]]. r. xlamcl, J. E. White, F. Anderson, ami t (secretary). The party met at *7-°. Town liall at 10 a.m., and drove to St. Llair, with tho intention of inspecting rhe renovations and improvoinc sat the baths, ■these they found to be in jiossossion of ladies, and tho lx»ard beat a hasty but dignified retreat, content- to take this part 'of the programme as." read." TJie improvements consist of a septic tank and other much-needed alterations. The obsolete and antiquated have been discarded, and the new arrangements generally will doubt-less tend to further popularise swimming at St. Clair. Apropos of this popularity, it would fieem that tho SI. Clair baths must be included in tiro category ot tilings to which distance lends enchantment. It is said that gentlemen who cycle furiously from afar with towels round their necks once or twice a, week are heard to remark: - Ah, if 1 only lived at St. Clair, I would go in every day, summer and winter." It, i» whispcted that sonic of these gentlemen have gone to live at St. Clair, and that now they never uo near the baths at all, apparently for the samo reason that Londoners never visit the Tower or Madame Tussaud's. The various works along the shore were next inspected, and tho groins and revetments were found to have fully justified their existence. It will be remembered that a wire fence screened with twigs was found to nave been completely buried in sand at the inspection last year. Another and a similar fence was erected along the same line, and this yesterday was also found to have been engulphed. By such means as this the ocean is made to build ramparts against its own encroachments. Sand dunes fOlin, which, with t,he judicious use of lupin and grass, become green knolls arid assets to tho landscape. t''iok leading from opposite the brand Pacific Tea Rooms to the beach lias boon much improved, and has been hardened with clay and widened throughout its entire length. The Beach road by the. St. Kilda band rotunda has been further exteiuled'seaward, redestrians have no longer to flounder amid heaps of drifted sands, but walk on a hard raised road "filled" with rotten rock. In the near future it is the intcntioni of the Domain Board to join this road with that leading backward from the Pacific lea Kooms by another through the lupins, which will join at right angles. This will torm a sheltered and pleasant promenade, which will appeal to these fond of the smell of the briny, flic scent of lupin mL ns, i anc \ song of the surges. The board s employees are busy shepherdmg wind-driven sand by means of scrub fences, with the object of fillinjr in gaps ami hollows between the knolls. This work was found to bo proceeding satisfactorily, it will be remembered that some seven years ago tho. area known as Chisholm Park was practically a, wilderness. Now the desolation will bo found to have disappeered; tho grass is strong and healthy, and the undergrowth has been cleared from among the trees. This tract of land has already been handed over bv the Domain Board to the City Council' for a reserve, and it is probable that after oerjmJT m "t s _^ p f, rufciona havc bmi wropleted two football grounds will there be laid out. It is interesting to note the results of experiments-;-if to ..(he/tenacity of rarioiis kinds of grass in the board's operaions. Marram would seem to have been the most successful, and its roots strike depth Uo'Ji- wic sand to an incredible

The members of the board were evidently pleased with all they saw, and are mafdl wTf Cd °" anotlWr o£