OCEAN BEACH DOMAIN BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21978, 13 June 1933, Page 7

OCEAN BEACH DOMAIN BOARD

ANNUAL REPORT The annual report of the Ocean Beach Domain Board, to be presented at the annual meeting on Friday afternoon, As in the cgse of the previous year, the operations by relief, labour assumed an important aspect of the board’s work. The men were employed in two groups, one of which worked three days per week and the other two and a-half days per week. The number of men so employed was gradually increased until at the close of the year the total reached 58. Ibe sum paid out in wages on behalf of the Unemployment Board was, £3llO, compared with £1777 5s 8d for the previous year. The work undertaken was all in the nature of permanent improvements to the domain. ' _ The entrance roadway. St. Kilda, was metalled and maintained in good order throughout the year. The surroundings and general appearance of the entrance have been greatly enhanced by the removal of the fencing and the construction of rockery walls. On the opposite side the plantation was cleaned un and made generally more presentable. The planting of the area on the domain fruitage to the right of the roadway fronting the tram terminus was also done during the year,thereby completing the improvement work carried out in that locality the previous year. On the opposite side of the roadway entrance the bandstand area, also received considerable attention in the way of cleaning up and levelling. In future, the board will attend to the maintenance of this portion of the domain as part of its regular operations. _ The .work of constructing a recreation ground _ opposite Moreau street for the St. Clair School children was completed during the year, and the ground is now in regular use. This work constitutes a decided improvement to the domain. The actual construction work was carried out wholly by relief labour, the funds for the filling and top-dressing material being provided by the School Committee and Rugby Union. The construction of six croquet lawns for the Watea Croquet Club was commenced during the year with relief labour. is providing the filling, and is to pky a rental of £2 10s per lawn per annum on completion of the work. At the close of the year three-quarters of an acre had been prepared, .which the club will probably be able to use for play during the incoming season. Work on the hockey ground near the lawn tennis courts proceeded steadily during the year, and will be completed during the incoming year. This is also a relief work, and constitutes a further valuable improvement of a permanent nature to, the A new pathway is under construction on the seaward side of the new recreation ground at St. Clair, in order to link up the former through pathway which was severed by the recreation area. A roadway is also being constructed to provide a convenient entrance to the domain from Victoria road, alongside the tennis courts to the new croquet lawns. This is also a relief work. The appearance of the domain along the frontage of the lawn tennis courts at St. Clair was considerably improved by the construction of rockery walling. By arrangement with the City Council the footway in Victoria road fronting the domain, which stands on city property, is being lowered to a permanent level in keeping with - the roadway. This work' will permit of a considerable improvement being made to the frontage of the domain by the erection of a stone boundary wall, as finances permit. Some six chains'of the wall have already been completed. At the request of the St. Kilda Improvement Society, the board undertook the work of constructing a concrete paddling pool as an adjunct to the children’s pfaygroupd at St. Kilda. Materials were provided by the society, and belief labour was used on the work ns far as possible. The plantations have been thinned where necessary. Pences which have served their purpose have # been removed and seating accommodation provided. The tree thinnings have been utilised for protective work on the sandhills and in the construction of temporary widening of roads for traffic to various developmental works in hand. The recreation grounds have been maintained in reasonably good order and topdressed as far as possible with the material available. Scrub fences were erected at St. Clair Beach, and were re-erected on three occasions after being destroyed by the action o{, the sea. Heavy southwesterly weather again caused a considerable denudation of sand from the beach at times. The loss was; however, quickly made good with the return of favourable weather conditions. The various pathways throughout the domain were given, considerable attention during the year, and, are generally in good condition. A good deal of trouble was experienced by wind-blown sand accumulating on the paths, necessitating fairly constant attention in keeping the paths- clear. The refuse tip has been _ maintained in good condition,-’no complaints having been received. Beaches have been patrolled and inspected regularly and any necessary cleaning or similar work dpne by the staff. Attention has been given to the sandhills in the way of necessary protective planting work wherever the conditions called for such. The board commenced the year with a credit bank balance of £1314 2s Id. At the close of the year the credit balance was £714 4s Id, to which must be added the sum of £516 3s 4d on deposit at the Post Office Savings Bank, making a total Of £1230 7s 5d available for commencing the new year. The receipts for the year, including statutory levy (£1486 8s 7d), rent and fees’ (£52), refunds for wages under the Unemployment Board s No. 5 scheme (£3057 2s 2d), interest on deposit (£l6 3s 4d), and other sundry items totalled £4884 7s 7d. Expenditure totalled £4960 2s 3d, which included £l2Bl 16s 8d for wages of the boards own staff; £3llO 8s 9d for wages of relief workers; and £3BB 5s 8d for materials, the balance being made up of charges for cartage, trees, and seeds, tools and plant, insurance, and other sundry items. ’ On August 5 the board gave consideration to a proposal for the construction ot sea walling at St. Clair to complete the City Council’s esplanade walling by closing the gap in an easterly direction along the sea front of the dom/iift. A scheme plan and draft specification were submitted by the foreman (Mr O. Smith), which indicated that the work might be carried out at a cost of £747 10s, plus labour costs in connection with the palisading of the roadway. With the sanction ot the City Council and the Harbour Board, the board obtained a report on the proposals from the city engineer (Mr J. O. Alexander) and the Harbour Board engineer (Mr J. M‘G. Wilkie), and these reports recommended that the work be carried out in similar construction to that already done on the St. Clair esplanade by the City Council —by means of concrete steel piling tied back at intervals by steel rods protected with concrete and anchored to concrete blocks. The estimated cost given by the engineers was £B6O, exclusive of all labour charges, but including an allowance of £1 10s per 10ft length of wall for plant and tools. The board decided to adopt the engineers’ proposals at its meeting on October 20. on the understanding that the cost was to be spread over a period of two years. The necessary reinforcing stee 1 ' has since been purchased and delivered to the domain, and work on the fabrication of the pile reinforcements is proceeding. Pile shoes have also been constructed, and the casting of the piles should be in band at an early date. ■