PT. CHEVALIER BEACH

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 699, 26 June 1929, Page 8

PT. CHEVALIER BEACH

CITY COUNCIL MAY HAVE! CONTROL WILL CABARET GET PERMIT?! j The Dixieland baths scheme at Point Chevalier may yet come to pass. •Accomplishment of the project is contingent on two “ifs”—if the j Harbour Board will agree to vest j control of the foreshore in the ; City Council, and, if the municipal authorities will grant a permit. Fair progress toward surmounting the first difficulty was made yesterday, when the town clerk advised the Harbour Board that the Minister of Marine was willing to allow the council to control the Point Chevalier beach, and inquired if the board had any objection to the proposal. In 1927 Dixieland’s promotors applied to the board for permission to erect baths on the beach, stated the chairman, Mr. W. Wynyard. While no opinion was then expressed as to the desirability of the baths, the board was satisfied that their construction would not interfere with navigation. An inquiry was ordered by the District Engineer, who claimed that the scheme would seriously impair and detract from the natural advantages of the beach, and a permit for the baths was refused. The City Council had a reserve on the point, and since then had applied to the Minister of Marine for control of the foreshore from the point southward. The board had no landed rights over the bed of the harbour; only over the foreshore between high and low water levels. If control of the beach was granted to the council, that body could grant a permit to Dixieland to build the baths, if so desired. In the past the board had claimed the beach should be controlled by some local authority, and that its administration should not be in the hands of private interests. Mr. Campbell Jones: The moment you have vested interests controlling the beach you will have friction. When a motion >was submitted by the chairman to consent to vesting control of the beach in the council, a member urged that consideration should be deferred. “Why the haste?” he asked. The chairman replied that the only reason for haste was that the council was promoting special legislation for this session of Parliament to effect the vesting of control of the beach in them. Mr. E. Aldridge said he appreciated the necessity of havijig the beach properly controlled. As a councillor he considered the council could efficiently exercise jurisdiction. The majority of members, however, wanted more information before making a decision, and the matter was referred to the board in committee, to whom the engineer and harbourmaster is to report.