OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD

Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 23

OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN MR LOUDON APPOINTED. The first meeting of the newly-consti-tuted Harbour Board was held on Thursday evening, and was attended by Messrs J. Loudon (in the chair). H. Al. Driver, H. C. Campbell, J. M‘C. Dickson, T. Anderson, A. Campbell, J. B. Waters, J. H. Duncan, D. Larnach, W. Begg, P,- H. Sharpe, F. Tyson, and Captain MDonald. The business before the board was the election of a chairman for the yeai. Mr Campbell moved that Mr Loudon be the chairman for the ensuing year. Mr Duncan seconded the motion. There were no other nominations, and Mr Loudon was declared elected amidst applause. . ADDRESS BY RETIRING CHAIRMAN.

Captain M’Donald said he had to eongratulate Air Loudon on being elected <is chairman of the board for three times, that was to say that he had rolled homo “’ r ® e tunes to a rolling chair. Captain c said that the rolling position of chairman did not meet with approval from. him. The idea of changing tho leader of so important a board as their* e'er.v year was not, in his opinion, in the best interests of the people of the province as a whole. He said that because they paid out on behalf of the people of the province of Otago in the shape of interest, wages, material, etc., something like £210,000 per annum. His feeling therefore, was that no man should hold the leadership of the board unless he had the time to give free and willing service for the benefit of the province for at least four days per week. Captain M’Donald saw he felt it his duty as retiring chairman of the board c K ne an outline of the operations ot the board in a general way during his term of office. °

When he took the chair in May of last year, said Captain M'Donald, the board had been having some difficulty in secures Proper rock for the building up of the Mole at the Heads, but, as they were aivaie, it had been decided to open up a new quarry about half a mile from the old quarry, which had been opened by the pioneers of the Harbour Board and which had become too expensive to work. He was glad to say, however, that the new- quarry opened was right up to expectations. and would, as far as he could see, give the necessary supply of large rock for the boards requirements fo r the next 100 years; but, of course, the estiniate given by their engineer, in good faith, might not complete the Mole as was intended to high water mark. Had the old quarry remained faithful for' the supply of material, the engineer’s estimate would have been well on the right side. As they were aware, the board had been paying, when he took office, 102 s per ton. He was however, glad to hand the chair over with oil fuel costing 72s 6d per ton. but he was of opinion that they should soon get a further reduction. As they knew they had not had reason to send much dredging spoil to sea du'-in<r the past 12 months. The space available for spoil in the South Endowment and Mussel Bay yas sufficient to keep their dredge working without going outside the Heads for some time. When he had taken office, it had boon found that the Order-in-Council for the filling up of the South Endowment had expired. This, he was pleased to say, had been renewed, giving them the fairly long period of 20 years to complete filling in. The board had taken over the lease of that property before it fell due. This had been done to enable the board to have a proper storage yard for its own operations. All timber and other stores that had been lying about the streets had now been gathered into this yard, and he was sure, from his own observations, that economical working could now be obtained under such a condition that the Works Department of the board could carry on its duty.

The question of the removal of the portion of the upper end of the half-tide wall in the harbour had been under consideration for the past two or three years. He was very glad to say that, during his term of office, those who had the right of giving the final approval had agreed to the board’s request, and now they had the sanction of the Government to proceed with the work right away. The estimated cost of the removal had been on their papers for some consiedrable time. During the last 12 months a contract had been let for the purpose of removing part of Quarantine Island rock extending under water out into the Channel to the westward to about 100 feet. When this work was finished, which he hoped would be very shortly, the Channel through the islands would be, practically speaking, equal to the width of the Channel below Port Chalmers.

Pumping installation at their dock at Port Chalmers had been a bone of contention for several years. During his term of office, he had taken this matter up with the engineers of the board and the harbour master, and, after giving due consideration to the modification that would be necessary to bring the pumping plant up to date, they had, as they knew, instructed their engineer to call for tenders for the supply of the necessary installation, in accordance with the specification that had been sent out. These tenders would come in during tbeir term of office, and he would be only too glad to give all the assistance that he could to see that this vexed question was settled satisfactorily in the interests of the board.

Captain McDonald said that all the matters he had enumerated had already been dealt with by the usual constitutional methods, and the various works were proceeding satisfactorily, but there were two matters which were still in abeyance. One wag railway connection to Victoria wharf. He would like to have seen this question settled during his term of office, but he felt quite satisfied that they would take up the reins where he had to knock off, and that they would not leave a stone unturned until the people of the province had what they were justly entitled to, and that was railway connection to Victoria wharf.

The other matter was the protecting works against floods in the Leith River.

closing his remarks, Captain Al Donald said he desired to express his sincere appreciation of the loyal support given to him by the whole staff during his term of office. He also wished to express his sincere thanks and appreciation of the straight-forward manner in which the reporters had reported the meetings of the board during his term of office.— (Applause.) REPLY BY MR LOUDON. Air Loudon, in returning thanks, said they would have to go into the financial position of the board and see how they stood in connection with the works they must undertake and carry through. During Captain APDonald’s term ae chairman quite a number of works had been carried through, and he thought they would be of great benefit to the board. He thought the action of the board in securing the Milburn Lime Company’s premises was a step in the right direction. He thought the scheme to be carried out was • a very fine one, and as the years went by the premises should prove a most valu-' able asset. With regard to unemployment, that was a matter that would have to occupy the attention of the board. He took it that it was the duty of the board to do everything possible to assist in finding work for the unemployed. They were, of course, governed by ‘ways and means, but he knew the board would do its best to help. The question of flooding at the Leith would have to be tackled at an early date, and he proposed to ask the board to have a special meeting as soon as possible, and at that meeting the Leith problem would be considered and nothing else. Just to allay the fears of the people he might say he had been assured by the engineers that with the work already done—that was the clearing out of the bed of the Leith and the removal of obstacles—even if they had a flood of the magnitude of the previous one they did not anticipate any serious damage. However, it was a matter that would have to be put on a basis of safety as soon as possible. He might say that the sub-committee of the board appointed to go into this matter —Captain M’Donald, Mr Dickson, and himself—had not been unanimous as to the recommendations that had to be made, and that was really a matter which the board as a body would have to shoulder. The committee was quite prepared to consult with the engineers, and it would then submit to the board a complete statement, and the board could take full responsibilitj- afterwards. Another matter, as he had stated, related to their financial position, and that should certainly be attended to in the future. They should have a full statement of their financial position and their commitments and possible, revenue and expenditure for the coming year. He would have such a statement ready for the June meeting. The speaker concluded by thanking members for the honour they had done him in electing him chairman VOTES OF THANKS Votes of thanks appreciative of the services of the retiring members of the board were carried unanimously A vote of thanks was also passed to the retiring chairman (Captain M’Donalrt) who will be presented with an illuminated address in due course