THE NAVAL STATION.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 410, 12 October 1889, Page 4

THE NAVAL STATION.

Sir Henry Pabkes has laid upon the table of the New South Wales Assembly the correspondence respecting the election of buildings at Garden Island and Woolloomooloo Bay, and on the subject of Sydney being the head depSt of her Majesty's ships in the Pacific. The papers commence with a minute by Mr Dalley, acting Colonial Secretary for the Go\einor, dated January 7th, 1885, stating that the necessai-y works for the erection of stores and offices at Woolloomooloo Bay in connection with the naval station and all other works at Garden Island would be prosecuted without any delay. The Cabinet had on the previous day approved of the plans of the stores in Woollooinooloo Bay. The work, however, was not proceeded with and Admiral Fairfax wrote remonstrating, and again Admiral Fairfax, on April 3, 1888, in a letter to the Governor, calls attention to his letter of October 22nd, 1887, bringing under notice the delay in the works and the fact that he had received no reply to his communication other than an acknowledgment horn the Governor. A number of depal tmental minutes follow as to the works executed, the Colonial Architect also giving a history of the matter, which was initiated on April 16th, 1883,by Mr Stuart, the then Colonial Secretary, in aminute to Lord Lof bus where the proposal to hand over the island, etc., is outlined. The Admiral once more, on February 22nd, 1889, wrote to the Government about these naval works, stating that no answer had yet been received to his communications, and calling attention to the deterioration in the stores through the want of accommodation. In this letter the Admiral further wrote :—: — ' For efficient performance of work connected with repairs and maintenance of squadron Sydney affords no greater facility than can be obtained in other leading Austialian ports by employing contract. In other colonies I have been assured on the best authority that Government would be ready to place such buildings and storehouses at the disposal of the Admiralty as might be required. I and the officers preceding me in command ol the Naval Station have been unwilling to suggest any alterations in the arrangements, believing that the Government of New South Wales intended to carry out their agreement entered into with the Admiralty without delay, but now that all works on Garden Island are apparently abandoned I feel disposed to advise that in view of the large increase of stores that will be required in anticii pation of the Auxiliary Squadron, we should seek buildings where our stores can be conveniently placed, and where they will not deteriorate. Hitherto the performance of necessary work has been confined to Sydney, as the Naval Head Quarters, and the Imperial money passing through the Naval Dep6o annually exceeds £80,000. Mr Dibbs, the then Colonial Secretary, ; calling for a report on the matter, Mr Critchett Walker, Under- Secretary, in a memo pointed out thab the whole of the papers were in the Works Department, that there were plenty of funds available to carry out the various buildings, and that all that was required was the approval of the Colonial Secretary, which could not be given until the papers were returned. The Works Department, on being communicated with, intimated thab tenders were being called for some of the most important buildings. Sir Henry Parkes, on April 20, 1889, wrote to the Governor, in which he refers to the unsuitability of the site in Woolloomooloo Bay for naval stores. In this connection he pointed out that " moreover, the erocbion ot the stores on this questionable site would, according to the plans, involve an encroachment on the land of the Government Domain, which, I think, would give rise to much public dissatisfaction, It seems to me that it would be well for your Excellency to invite the Admiral's attention to theso circumstances before the irrevocable step is taken of erecting the stores in the cramped -up spot at Woolloomooloo Bay." The Premier f urthar writes :—: —

It may be well,to inform your Excellency,, though I am of course aware that it is a matter in which the naval authorities at , present have no concern, that a resolution ' was adopted by the Legislative Assembly a few years ago to set Garden Island apart for ever as a marine resort for the people of the colony ; and thab the agreement made by the late Sir Alexander Stuart with Commodore Erskine was executed either in ignorance or in defiance of this resolution. It is by no means improbable that this violated decision of Parliament may yet be revived in an unpleasant form, and I mention it now in connection with the question of adequate provision for the increasing needs of the navy in this port in the not distant future, say, for the next 20 to 30 yeara. Would it not be advisable and prudent to select some much larger area of land with deep water frontage on the shores of Port Jackson as the principal arsenal and dockyard, keeping the portion of Garden Island already occupied as an emergency naval dep6t ? I offer this suggestion for the consideration of the naval authorities, and at the same time beg to repeat my assux*ance that the Government of the colony are desirous of consulting the wishes and meeting the necessary demands of the service on this station. The Admiral expressed his satisfaction with the letter, and stated with reference to the naval store site he should be prepared to depute an officer to visit and report upon it. Sir Henry Parkes later suggeststhe erection of the naval stores on Garden Island. This appears to have been accepted after an inspection of the site as well as further provision for storage at Circular Quay. The correspondence closes with a letter from Admiral Fairfax, dated September 12th, taking over the care and maintenance of one of the buildings on Garden Island, it having been completed.