WEALTH FROM MUD FLATS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 285, 22 February 1928, Page 16

WEALTH FROM MUD FLATS

HARBOUR RECLAMATION POLICY PROGRAMME FOR FUTURE City areas to an extent of 300 ! acres, most of which was formerly ; unpleasant mud flats, and which j now brings in a rental of £54,000 j a year, is the result of the Auckland Harbour Board’s reclamation policy. In an interesting address on the development of the Waitemata Harbour, given to members of the Auckland Advertising Club yesterday, Mr. H. R. Mackenzie, chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, said this had all been made possible through the wisdom and foresight of Captain W. C. Daldy, the board’s first chairman, on insisting upon the granting to the board ot the fee simple in the bed of the harbour, precedent to its establishment. All land since reclaimed became the property of the board and a very valuable asset, said Mr. Mackenzie. The reclamation policy was also closely associated with the board’s dredging work. Instead of taking the spoil out to sea it was found cheaper to place it on the flats, which in time were converted" into valuable land. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT Referring to this reclamation and j berth-deepening policy, Mr. Mackenzie j instanced the fact that it had been ! possible to bring the world’s largest ! battleship alongside a wharf and place j her bow within a few feet of one of j the main streets of the city. By i dredging, it was possible to get 60ft j of water at low tide at the berths. The future development of the port was indicated in reference made to the £5,000,000 policy of harbour developments, and which will take another 25 years to complete. On the principle that main ports of call must eventually replace small loadings at various coastal ports, an up-to-date export wharf, at which small insulated craft would bring produce from the smaller coastal ports for shipment overseas, will be one of the big features of the programme. “There is a tremendous waste of money in calling at every port,” said Mr. Mackenzie, “and it is only a question of how long the Dominion will bear the cost.”