THE HILLS OF AUCKLAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 410, 19 July 1928, Page 10

THE HILLS OF AUCKLAND

A T last a definite move is being made to protect the volcanic ** cones of Auckland from the ravaging hand of the spoiler. A report has been presented by a special committee of the Auckland Town Planning Association, recommending that the Minister of Lands be asked if legislation can be suggested to prevent further quarrying depredations, and expounding several other schemes by which the property of Auckland citizens, as a whole, can be protected. Co-operation is sought from local authorities and there is little reason to suppose that it will be refused. Travellers who have been absent from Auckland for many years return to their city to express horror at the changed landscape, with its desecrated headlands and scarred hills. Mount Albert, Mount Wellington, Mount Smart, the Three Kings, the cone of Wiri—all have been blasted and torn. Even Kangitoto, proud sentinel of the Waitemata, has not been left untouched. Many of the hills of the city, which are an asset of incalculable value, present to-day the appearance of hollow teeth. Like hollow teeth, too, they must ache at the treatment that has been accorded them. But teeth can be filled by the dentist’s skill; hills, once marred, remain so. It is therefore right that a definite stand be taken against this wanton destruction. For a start, there is much to commend in the suggestion that local bodies should give preference to stone which has not been removed from any of our volcanic cones.