SPOILING THE HILLS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 166, 4 October 1927, Page 16

SPOILING THE HILLS

TOWN-PLANNERS PROTEST

“FRITTERING OUR HEITAGE”

There are four reasons why Auckland’s volcanic hills should be preserved : They are healthy reserves. They have a great history. Geologically they are most interesting. And they are beautiful. Professor C. R. Knight advanced them last .night at a meeting held under the auspices of the Auckland Town Planning Association. The following motion was passed by the meeting: “That this meeting strongly derrecates the present spoliation of volcanic hills in the Auckland district, and urges the various local authorities to take immediate steps to prevent their further destruction. We further urge that these.distinctive historical features should be acquired as public domains, so that they may be permanently enjoyed by the citizens of Auckland, to whom they rightly belong.” In an address Mr. G. S. Keesing, a Sydney architect, said that on each of his visits to Auckland he found that more material had been taken out of the volcanic hills of the city. He contrasted this policy with that of the city of Brussels, which at much expense had raised a comparatively small mound of earth to commemorate the men who fought at Waterloo. Professor Knight praised those public-spirited citizens who had given hills to the city, and those local bodies which had ’preserved some of them wholly or in part. “Of the 70 cones on and near the Auckland isthmus. I can think of only one—Mount Victoria—that has not been cut into at some time or other,” said Mr. C. K. Grierson, in seconding the motion. “Hardly a hill is without a gash showing its bleeding heart. It is enough to make anyone weep to see even local bodies quarrying them for the sake of revenue. We are selling our birthright for a mess of pottage.” “We are frittering away our heritage, and future generations will curse us for the husks we shall leave them.”