HARBOUR SCHEME.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5085, 7 February 1927, Page 3

HARBOUR SCHEME.

THE THAMES PROJECT.

APPREHENSION OF RATEPAYERS.

Since the people of the four or five counties in the Tliame,s Harbour District declined to become responsible for a £60,000 loan for the making of a harbour a'tj Thames, which responsibility was later assumed by the burgesses o'f Thames to the extent of a 6d rate, the matter has only been one of passing interest to the people of the country part of the district. However, so sparse has been the information on the project that it is now becoming a matter of comment, and, as Thames makes full use df publicity to boost itself along, the lack of news an this subject provokes the inference that all is not as well as could be desired. That .this inference prevails is largely due to the fac*it that information is not r«iadily accessible through the usual channels. The Thames Harbour Board is notorious for its policy of dealing in committee with all subjects, no matter how trivial, that are of a slightly contentious nature, or which in any way reflect on its policy or works. An instance of this may be, given as an example. In t,he early days o'f the improvement scheme discussion a letter was received from a. writer well kndwn up and down the, country for wild statements and hair-brained ideas urging investigation into the possibility of the Hauraki Gulf being the crater of an extinct volcanci, and the danger therefrom in removing mud by dredging. Standing orders were suspended before this letter was read, and no mention of it was made whom the open meeting resumed. Such being the general conduct o'f meetings, the up-country newspapers ceased sending reporters. UNEASINESS OF RATEPAYERS. Thames is a town of optimists, possibly attributable to its early days of goldmining, but it is obvious tha'ij ratepayers of the borough are uneasy as to the success of the harbour scheme. Ratepayers recently learned that the Borough Council’s quarry, which was originally estimated to cost £5OOO, had already cost nearly three times a® much and was not yet producing. Rumours, were current that the whole project was a 'failure, and the question arose as to whether the quarry was going t° be a precedent for the harbour scheme.

It is n«t ' being hinted that the Thames harbour scheme is unsound, but is merely reflecting a section of public opinion formed by laymen 'from observation and engendered by the lack pf authoritative information. The. loan was for £60,000, including the first year’s interest and sinking fund. In the_annual report;, up to September 30 last the total expenditure was given as £47,433 Ils 3d. df this, interest and sinking fund charges’ amounted te £4200, and the balance had gone on plant and construction. During the last two months the loan expenditure has amounted te £2458 17s 3d, or roughly £l2oo' a month. Thus a simple calculation will show that if expenditure is maintained at the same rate as in the last ■t>wo months the loan will be gone by about July next.

O'f the value of the work done and <(he cost of that necessary to complete the undertaking only an engineer could give an estimate. To a layman it appears that the harbour cannot be completed with te e funds available.

Briefly, the scheme comprises the enclosing of 114 acres by means of rubble walls, the dredging of a channel to deep water, a berthage and swinging basin estimated to cost £BB6l, <jhe. reclaiming of 14 acres and the erection of a new wharf and sheds. Up to the present the new wharf has been constructed, a start has be,en made with the wharfshed, one side of ,')he stone retaining wall to enclose the 114 acres is,nearing completion, and a dredge has excavated a hole barely large enough for a boys’ swimming pond. Since the work was commenced the board has decided to have a railway connection to the wharf, and it has paid tee Railway Department something lik'Q £BOO for a connection to the end o'f the wharf approach. If the cost of the continuation of the railway is t° be anything like at the sapre rate, it will account for a substantial sum.

Even the economic aspect df the harbour has changed of late, the competition df moters largely affecting the passenger trade of the port.