LYTTELTON HARBOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 35, 10 February 1905, Page 3

LYTTELTON HARBOUR.

LIMITED PORT FACILITIES. PSQ-PCSiED SUiOSJiR CA2SAI* (By Telegraph.—Owa Correspondent.) CKEXSTCITUECH, this day. In annual report the engineer to the L.yttei£on LLarUmr Board refers to Liie question of ioraiiiig a pert at Sumuer and connecting it by a canal with Ch-rLsLcimreh as ioliows: '"The first s&epa have been token towards tJie acquisition od such d&ta, in tne form of surveys, borings, etc., sia will enable an autiiorrcative report to be prepared on the feasibility and provable cost oi a canal Jlioni the sea to Ghristchureh, and also of other accommodation a.t Suinnsr. In my opinion the pxoper and necessary coarse is being taicen. Whether che report when prepiixed will l>e favourable to such a proposition or not the money will have been well spent. Elsewhere I have endeavoured to show that the exhaustion of the accommodation inside the moles at Lytteltou is only a question of time, and, assuming my estimate of that lime to be somewhere near the mark, it will be necessary in a few years to consider the ques- | lion of further accommodation outside I the present moles. The problem of e«mlomieai extension i.s v by no means a I simple one. No dotibt .something could be done by running out another m-ole I from sticking paint, but provision j would also be neca-ra&ry against south- ! westerly g-ales, which In this ease would Ibe the most expensive part of the work, land the area that could be eeo-nonikaliy ! enclosed here would be very drmili in i relation to the outlay. I ;>.m inclined to ; think, therefore, that nothing short of I constructing an additional harbour at |G-ciian's Bay. where The water is .sub- | stantiaily deeper and dredcinc; unnejeessary, woulj U. , worth considering. As ' i his would involve an outlay greater •than tbe whole cost of the present harbour, and would still have the disability lof beiny separated fr.>m Chrisxehureh jand tin.' back country by the Port HilLs. :it seems to mc that- tbe investigation /of the question of whether Sumner is not a more suitable place conies na;t::rally within the scope of this inquiry. The consideration of cutting a channel towards Christehurc-h naturally fallows, because om-s the north protecting mole 'is constructed the principal difficulty will be met. the remainder of the work being principally excavation (to the cost, of which the value of the contingent reclamations of land will largely contribute) and wharfage, which does no-z c-ost more in one place than another. Anyone who visits Timaru may see how much irau be <ior : p for a moderate outlay in the matter of protection from the seas on this coast in an exposed situation, while Sunrner is comparatively sheltered.