AUCKLAND’S SKYLINE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 681, 5 June 1929, Page 18

AUCKLAND’S SKYLINE

PROTECTION OF VOLCANIC CONES TOWN PLANNING WORK Supported by healthy public opinion, a vigilant watch is being kept over the volcanic cones round Auckland so that they may continue to exist unimpaired as a unique feature of the city’s skyline. This spirit of aestheticism is reflected in the efforts of the volcanic hills committee of the Auckland Town Planning Association to preserve the scenic grandeur of the hills from further denuding by the inroads of quarrying operations on the part of various local bodies. The committee claimed at the annual meeting of the association last evening that through the attention it directed to the matter something tangible had been achieved. After being worked lor over fifty years, a private quarry on the eastern side of Mount Eden has been closed, and, later, another three acres will be added to the Domain. At Mount Albert, success had also been attained by the Railway Department agreeing to discontinue excavation, and with the removal of the ballast line, another work, which had possibly been under way for about forty years, had ceased. The area of 9£ acres in the quarry was now being handed over to the Mount Albert Borough Council, which had raised a loan of £1,500 for the improvement of the mountain. Quarrying at Mount Wellington, j which had persisted for over seventv years, was likely to be stopped this year, as the Lands Department had arranged with the local road board to encroach on the Domain reserve for some distance, conditional on work being carried out to batter the hillside to an angle of safety and no further material to be removed. One other important gain had been at One Tree Hill, where the Domain Board had worked spasmodically at a quarry in order to obtain scoria for its own roads. The committee’s representations may have had some influence because, following consultations j with the Lands Department, which is i actively interested in safeguarding the hills, the board had stated that it hoped to be able to cease operations this year. * Conditions on other hills are being closely watched and representations have been made about damage to a lesser degree on Rangitoto Island, one lesser degree on Rangitoto Island. One of the Three Kings. Pigeon Mountain, McLaughlin’s Mountain and Tuhimata, Hill, near Runciman. During a recent visit to Auckland, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, Minister of Lands, was taken round the hills and was much impressed with their beauty and splendid views. He promised to peruse the committee’s recommendations. The Lands Department has also been asked to consider the proposals to ascertain what protective legislation could be enacted, but so far no reply has been received.