THE FUTURE OF LAKE LOGAN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15105, 30 March 1911, Page 6

THE FUTURE OF LAKE LOGAN.

Thk Harbour Board, being a moribund body, will probably defer until after the impending election any decision on the subject of the representations that will bo made to it by a deputation this afternoon respecting the future of Lake Logan. But the fact that the Board may almost be described as functus oflicii constitutes no reason why any large section of citizens, who are apprehensive lest any action may bo token by the Boa.rd that would, in their judgment, be opposed to the public interest, should in the meantime withhold their protests. The deputation will, W. 9 imagine, be in a position to adduce to the Board arguments in favour of the preservation of Lake Logan that should carry conviction to the minds of its members. Wo publish this morning a letter from a correspondent in which disagreement is expressed with those who aro endeavouring to achieve the preservation of Lake Logan as a permanent reserve, and if the reasons ho advances are the strongest that can bo discoverc] in support of the reclamation of the lake

then there should be little ground for ' fear that the youth of Nort.h Dunedin will bo deprived of their aquatic resort. ' Tho question of the condition of the laße : at the present time is not at all re-lovnnt '. to tho issue. There is no apparent reason | why the lake .should not be easily kept I dean and wholesome. The trifling expenditure of effort that has sufficed to keep ■it hitherto in -a fairly satisfactory stato /is itself convincing -evidence on this score. Nor are the designs of the Harbour Hoard with respect to the Pelichet Bay locality and .the intentions of the Railway Department to be necessarily regarded as conclusively indicating that the lake should be reclaimed. We are glad to note, for our own part, how entirely I foreign they are to tile question. The \ proposals of tho Harbour Board with reference to the straightening of the outlet i of tho Leith, with the effect that it would be thrown further south, would not, wo und-erstand, affect the question of reclaim-1 ing the lake area, as any difficulty associ-! a-ted with tho alteration in the conditions I could be readily overcome. As, however* tho alteration of the Leith channel was presumably projected as part of a general scheme that provided, inter alia, for tho reclamation of Lake Logan, it may be well for the Harbour Board seriously to consider—should it agree to abandon its designs on tho lake—whether it would not be more expedient to'retain the present natural outlet of the Leith than to spend a largo sum of money in turning this siltdepositing stream at right angles into tho harbour. The retention of the present channel would, of course, obviate any necessity for making come ] new provision for the tidal flow into Lake Logan. Wo would only observe, further, that the whole question should not be considered from a purely utilitarian standpoint. Some regard should be given to the future interests of the city from a broadly (esthetic and recreative point of view. The matter is far from one confined to tho interests of a, small aquaticloving section of the community, although those interests aw entitled to all possible consideration. Where other communities are sometimes inspired to spend money in the construction of artificial lakes to compensate for the natural deficiencies of their environment, our own community may well pause before assisting to deprivo itself, ,by its indifference, of an asset whioh is not the law valuable because hitherto neglected.- We trust that the members of the Harbour Board will take a - broad-minded view of the question, even should some slight sacrifice-of its own interests be involved in the proposaJs for the preservation of.the lake. It is not as if the Board were in any way restricted as to the field that is available for its reclamation projects, for this is extensive enough to occupy its attention for very many years to come.