“BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY"

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 539, 17 December 1928, Page 1

“BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY"

CITY ENGINEER RETURNS AUSTRALIA’S UNCEASING PROGRESS “I started off with the intention of combining just a little business with my vacation, but it turned into a sort of busman’s, holiday. ‘My principal impression? It is that we, must be continually planning and carrying out public works to provide for the growth of population, business, and traffic, and to secure adequate water supply. . “That is the lesson taught by Melbourne and Sydney, cities which are constructing continually. We cannot afford to halt.” The speaker was Mr. W. U. Bush,

city engineer, who strode the deck of the Niagara this morning, as he talked about his seven weeks’ tour in Australia. Mr. Bush visited Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, and found so many interesting things in the way of engineering works and municipal administration that his time on the other side of the Tasman was all too short. SYDNEY’S GREAT BRIDGE

He examined the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the great arch of which is in course of construction, and the underground railway. He visited the Avon and Nepean dams which supply Sydney with water, and saw the new bridge over George’s River, which will do away with the ‘‘Tom Ugly” ferry on Prince’s highway between Sydney and Melbourne.

The recently completed Maroondah dam and the Silver dam, now in course of completion, were visited. These will supply Melbourne with water. Another dam inspected by Mr. Bush was the Hume on the Murray River, constructed by the Federal and State Governments of New South Wales, Victoria and Adelaide. This will control the waters of the river for irrigation purposes.

Hake Manchester provides the reservoir for Brisbane, and after an examination of this work, Mr. Bush saw something of the main roads and watersupply systems of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. He went into the question of municipal administration in Sydney and gathered that, on the expiration of the term of the present commissioners, some form of democratic administration would be arranged and a city council formed. COUNCIL'S BIG AREA “I looked into the working of the Greater Brisbane City Council.” added Mr. Bush. “I found it was successful, although the area of 350 square miles is on the large side. “Excellent work has been done by the Melbourne Town-Planning Commission. and valuable data and plans have been collected and prepared. The report is to be presented shortly. “I formed the opinion that some form of unification of municipal government is absolutely necessary for the orderly growth of the cities; but what form this should take in the cases of Melbourne and Sydney, I am not prepared to try and say.”