SYON PARK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20964, 1 March 1930, Page 18

SYON PARK.

FAMOUS RIVERSIDE VIEW. SEWAGE WORKS PROPOSAL. “A NATIONAL CRIME" (From Odb Own Correspondent.) 'LONDON, January 16. Some, anxiety has been' caused by the announcement :■ of. the proposal of the Rivers . Committee of the Middlesex County Council that Syon Park, opposite Kew, Gardens, should be acquired tor a sewage disposal works. _ The view of Syon Park from Kew Gardena, along the avenue of Holm Oaks .leading; from the palm house to the river, is familiar to all visitors, including all from New Zealand who go to Kew, and has for a long time been known as Syon vista. It looks across the greater part , New Gardens on to Syon House, a stately mansion above whose l facade stands one of the sculptured lions which was removed to Syon Park when Northumberland House was demolished in order toj bund Northumberland avenue, • Another favourite walk of the Londoner is along, the..towpath of the Thames from Hew to-Richmond, part of which is immediately opposite Syon'Park. The view alorig the river between Kew Gardens and Irleworth has inspired many an artist.

dr hill’s Views. ,Dr Hill,_the director of Kew Gardens, who was m New Zealand a year ago. strongly protests against the scheme. , turn. Syon Park into a sewage farm, he ; said, in an interview, “ would be nothing lesa than a national crime.” The, nverside view from Kew Gardens p^ o ~l e wN mmorta l lßed Turner ; d tV, o h W^, ISOU and was‘probably one of the best-known “beauty spots" of the gimpme, by reason of the large number f p ,j ol £ e yP O ted Kew Gardens. It V° uld be disastrous to spoil it by buildi®^ nd , rl 7 e -embankments that must be‘ lf i se^? Re w ° rks were erected nutfcAA T i su X h a scheme were && d b £.- the County Council he should do everything possible to arouse the „® tr |5 UO ? 8 ? uk J lc opposition, and he felt, confident of the support of all orgamsations. interested in the preservatxon of rural scenery near London. Everyone with whom he had spoken on the subwas horrified at the proposal, ike sewage works, Dr Hill added n be T^ oun « *5 have a detrimental effect on Kew Gardens. However, scientific such works might be, it would be impossible to avoid smells which would seriously affect the amenities of the GarThroußhout -,t. he P»3t autumn there Pad been a prevailing west wind,' which was from the direction in which it was should P b°e P built. hat the SSWage Works

UP-TO r DATE ENGINEERING of ln +L let T?- r t 0 Th « Tmes, the chaiman p Elve r i a Committee, Middlesex sS ’ explains that if the ar ® were constructed at Syon tp e system of treating the sewage would be the most modern one known to !m!LJ glne i e Ji IDR Profession, and he is asnot,be accompanied in any by i, e nn Pleasant conditions which fame 5113 Tt. PreSent a ij ß l WBEe works and SSPJI- -there would be no unsightly buildings or chimney shafts, and the nbcn, t:ilg «. of tr , ees al, d shrubs would obscure the works' and such buildings as may be requisite. Indeed, if necessary the d wbnf» ble f iv. Wolll d he practicable fo? put uidtmound 6 PUrlfioatlon Plant t 0 be “tttl+t. may a j d ’” writes the chairman, J e ? ar d to the Syon Park site shouli^VvT^ 31 '!, thatit is not proposed, ke carried out there, to utilise the whole park for the works, but lees- than one-half, while the rsmainri 3l r? ni ? l ?s the mansion and avenue, would be ;left undisturbed and available as a public park. In addition, it would be possible to construct a riverside walk which would undoubtedly add to the attractions of the neighbourhood."

DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND. The Dnke of Somerset held Syon for five or sis years in the reien of Edward ? nd it was then "ranted to the Earl of Northumberland. In the possession or that family the property has since remained by one tenure or another. Within, the park is the site of the battle of Brentford in 1642. The Syon Park proposal is, of course, in its earliest stages at present, and has not yet been discussed- by either the Middlesex County Council or the other local authorities concerned.

I am most resolutely opposed to the proposal to acquire my property for such a purpose, writes the Duke of Northumberland in The Times, “ and I shall use every means in my power to defeat it. Apart from the fact that for personal reasons I do not wish to part with an estate which has been in the hands of my family since the time of Queen Elizalibeth (and which 13 generations have [eince laboured to beautify), I shall use imy best endeavours in the national interests to prevent such a disastrous spoliation 'of the countryside as would be caused by the conversion into sewage disposal works of this work, with its rare and beautiful trees in its unique setting by the River Thames.”