WHARFAGE EXTENSION

Otago Witness, Issue 3818, 17 May 1927, Page 36

WHARFAGE EXTENSION

DUNEDIN’S EXPANDING WATERFRONT.

NSW HARBOUR BOARD PROJECT.

Mr W. J. Bardsley, secretary of the Otago Harbour Board, forwarded to Welfington on Tuesday morning the plan of the proposed extension to the Victoria wharf. When the seal of confirmation has been ■et upon it by the technical experts of the Marine Department, the way will be clear for the beginning of this important work. Dredging and general preparation will be~in almost immediately, marking the del.-iite opening of a project that is of the utmost importance to Dunedin shipping and business circles. The extension will consist of an additional 850 ft of wharf, which will be built on the northern end of the present structure. After the dredging and general excavation has been completed it will take 12 months to build, and the estimated cost rllo’.vcd for in the Otago Harbour Board’s loan bill of £350,000 is £20,000. The great vaJue of the new wharf lies in the fact that it will provide a direct outlet and excellent accommodation for goods from the new stores which, in the course of a few years, will cover the valuable reclaimed land at present vacant to the north of a warehouse and store area that is becoming rapidly congested. • An examination of the available land to the north of the present Victoria wharf and along the foreshore shows the great opportunity that is being grasped by the board. All this land, as well as the remaining area of the waterfront will, in the future, be of immense value ; but from the point of view of business and shipping, its value for storage and warehouse purposes depends, of necessity, on its proximity to suitable wharfage accommo-

dation. The extra 850 ft soon to be added to Victoria wharf will do for the now practically vacant land to fhe north, what the present wharf has done for the stores area to the left of lower Rattray street. It will provide excellent sites for stores with direct access to the holds of the ocean-going vessels lying alongside. Oil companies have taken up a comparatively large block—some three acres in all—of this land, and they will be among those who will benefit by the completion of the project. When the work is put in hand others will follow in their train, and' a keen demand for land is expected. The completion of the extension of the wharf will also mean the building of new sheds to the north of the present structures. It is not anticipated that there will be the slighted difficulty in securing the endorsement of the Marine Department, and when the work is officially sanctioned it will be begun without delay. A great deal of excavation work will be necessary in what is to be the new channel. A large amount of money is being invested by the Harbour Board in drainage and sewerage on the land that is to be opened by the extension of the wharf.