Drawing No. 2.
Drawing No. 2.
116
Mr. Sutherland's Scheme for a Passenger Depôt at Victoria.
The underlying principle of this proposal is the control of river boat passenger traffic with a view to assisting the suppression of piracy, the Excise and Revenue Department in the searching of passengers and their baggage and the control of the spread of disease.
The scheme was discussed on the 15th July last in conference with the Hon. Mr. E. D. C. Wolfe (Captain Superintendent of Police), the Hon. Mr. A. E. Wood (Acting Secretary for Chinese Affairs), Mr. D. Lloyd (Superintendent of Imports and Exports), and Lieut.-Comdr. Hake (Acting Harbour Master).
It was ascertained that the scheme would not allow of any improvement on the present methods regulating the traffic concerned. Its introduction would meet with much opposition from Shipowners due to the fact that each steamer with cargo to load or unload would require to berth at least three times, thus requiring them to keep up steam in port for a much longer period than would otherwise be necessary. Due to the fact that the hours of departure and arrival of the vessels employed on the river trade are about the same time (11 p.m. to 4 a.m.) almost each steamer would require a separate berth. As the scheme holds no provision for dealing with cargo, the berths would thus be vacant for the greater part of the day. The scheme in proportion to its usefulness would therefore be very expensive. It was also ascertained that the search- ing of cargo is just as important as the searching of passengers and that a scheme is considered essential for their proper control. Recommendations are made later in this report.
Development of the Harbour Front in General.
The lines of development shewn edged pink on Drawing No. 2 were laid down by the Town Planning Committee in 1922 principally on the lines recommended by me subject to modification when the Consulting Engineers' report was received. It was anticipated that as they had sought information as to the ownership of all lots on the Harbour frontage and the purpose for which they were being utilized and also informa- tion as to the trade of the Port they would deal with the question of its future lines of development.
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