PAN-PACIFIC EXHIBITION

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 713, 12 July 1929, Page 1

PAN-PACIFIC EXHIBITION

New Plan for Hobson Bay PERMANENT PARK AREA (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter) PARLIAMENT BLDGS, Thursday. THAT Hobson Bay should be drained and reclaimed, and turned into an exhibition park, just as Lake Logan in Dunedin was in 1925, is the suggestion of Mr. J. S. Fletcher, M.P., made to a reporter of The Sun today.

Mr. Fletcher claims that the time j is ripe for Auckland to prepare for a | pan-PaciSc exhibition on the lines of j the Dunedin one, with the building ! of a special park. After the exhibition the land could be turned over to the Auckland city and used as a pleasure ground and sports area, as Logan Park is, half of it being lent to the University. The Dunedin City Council has obtained the park from the Otago Harbour Board at a peppercorn rental, and now it is one of the finest playing areas in New Zealand. Mr. Fletcher claims that Auckland could give employment to a large number of men in such work, and besides could erect on the ground a permanent exhibition building such as is desired by the executive of the Winter Show. This building could be used for the exhibition and then handed over to the Winter Show Committee, and the rent would eventually pay for its construction. Mr. Fletcher suggested that the Mayor should call a meeting of those interested, and he could be assured of success in forming a company to run the exhibition. The proposal could be put through without expense to the public, and Auckland should provide a surplus for investors because of the greater population. The return in Dunedin to investors was 16s for £l, besides an enormous increase of trade in the city. After the formation of the company the aid of Japan, Dutch East Indies, Australia, United States, and Canada, in fact all the Pacific countries, could be sought. Mr. Fletcher thinks that the success of such an exhibition would be a foregone conclusion.

KEEN INTEREST ROUSED

'‘EXCEEDINGLY BRIGHT IDEA” Representative citizens, interviewed this morning, were unanimously of opinion that the suggestion made by Mr. Fletcher merited close investigation, while one or two expressed enthusiasm over the exhibition proposal. “As a citizen, I consider the' idea an excellent one, with great possible advantages to the future of Auckland’s growth and progress,” said Mr. W. H. Gummer, of Gummer and Ford, architects. “As an architect, X should say that the idea of thus utilising Hobson Bay is an exceedingly bright one, demanding the fullest investigation. If the bay is formed for such a purpose, it will mean that this portion of the city is reserved for the public for all time, with appropriate facilities for recreation. FIXING THE PROBLEM “Moreover, whereas the future of the area may be left indefinite for a considerabl time to come, this proposal would fix it. No citizen who has

the beauty and future of Auckland at heart could do otherwise but accept

Mr. Gummer, who is a member of the Town Planning Association, said that in mentioning tile word “investigation” there was, of course, the question of cost. The site would have to be properly reclaimed, and the approach roads—their number and grade considered. “X can see no objection to the site,” he added. “There is no reason why an exhibition should necessarily be in the middle of the city, where possibly the surroundings would not be so suitable or beautiful. When people go to an exhibition, they do not dodge in and out. They go there for an afternoon or an evening, and a difference of even a quarter of an hour jn travelling would be neither here nor there. “For that matter, from the point of view of the trams, the distance to Hobson Bay is no greater than was the distance to the Domain, the site of the last exhibition.” CLOSE EXAMINATION Mr. G. Finn, president of the Manufacturers’ Association, said he was perfectly in sympathy with the idea that Hobson Bay should be converted into a park area—it was -an ideal spot for that purpose. With regard to the exhibition proposal, the matter was purely one of opinion. It would be necessary for all sections of the community to take active part in such a scheme and the proposition would have to be given very full and careful investigation. “IN FULL SUPPORT” Mr. E. V. Blake, town-planning expert and member of the Town Planning Association, made the following I statement: — “Without a full survey of ail factors affecting the city’s development (which has not yet been made) it would not be wise at this stage to say what the ultimate development of the whole of the Hobson Bay area should be. “I am in full support of the suggestion to reclaim a considerable area for the site of a great exhibition, and also as a memorial to Governor Hobson, the purposes to which this reclamation should afterwards be put, could he gone into more fully as the town plan of Auckland develops. I do not see how the whole of the Hobson Bay area can remain for all time as an open space, but there is no reason why with proper planning utility and beauty should not be combined.” DIFFICULT PROBLEM The proposal has not yet been placed before the Auckland Harbour Board, but it is said that the question of reclamation presents a serious problem, as Hobson Bay is a much larger and more difficult proposition than was Lake Logan at Dunedin. Moreover, it is a question as to whether the board’s dredges would be suitable for the work. Another aspect of the situation is claimed to be that the board has a full programme of work for its dredges extending over a period of years.