GRAFTON GULLY PARK

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 723, 24 July 1929, Page 11

GRAFTON GULLY PARK

CR. BURTON ASKS COUNCIL TO ACQUIRE AREA SPOILATION BY BUILDINGS Perturbed lest the eastern and upper portions of the Grafton Gully should be spoiled by building operations, Cr. H. P. Burton has given notice to move at next week’s City Council meeting that the part of the gully in question be preserved as a park. Cr. Burton suggests that inquiries should be made toward the acquisition of the privately-owned land on the eastern side of the gully, and that the commercialisation of the area at the o l> of the gully near Symonds Street should be made the subject of investigation, reports to be made to the council within two months. The councillor believes the present time opportune for taking the initiative, as, year by year, building operations encroach further into the gully. He has reason to believe that some of the owners of the privately-held land in the gully are prepared to make a gift of the portions of their sections affected if any general move is made for the conservation of the gully for what it should be, a place of beauty in the heart of the City. The Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, is fully in accord with Cr. Burton’s scheme. His Worship said that he had noticed how ragged the upper end of the gully was becoming. It was tending to provide an unfitting background to the view of the bridge from the harbour. “The whole would be very pretty if we could have the upper part of the gully studded with some of the more imposing of our native trees. 1 think that Mr. Burton'3 suggestion is a step in the right direction,” Mr. Baildon remarked. The council at present has another beautifying scheme under consideration. It. is proposed to lay out the paddock on the Domain slope below the hospital. The council is to be asked to give I authority to have the area surveyed for paths and tracks leading through a garden, in which will be cultivated trees and shrubs from all parts of the world.