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5.
As regards the new area of nearly 76,000 Square Feet, I recommend that a lease be granted to Messrs. Blackhead and Company for 75 years, renewable on the usual terms; the premium being $1.00 per Square Foot and Crown Rent at the rate of $600 per acre. The area of seabed which was sold at auction in 1902 as Marine Lot 75 fetched 85 cents a Square Foot, the Crown Rent being at the rate of $650 an acre, seeing that the area now under discussion is in a less favourable position. The proposed terms seem therefore reasonable. The purchasers will also be obliged to reclaim the entire area to such levels as the Director of Public Works may approve, and to protect it by a substantial sea-wall along the East side and by a pitched slope or otherwise as the Director of Public Works may approve along the North side. It will also be stipulated that the work should be completed within two years from the date of sale, and a sum of not less than $40,000 expended upon rateable improvements within four years from the same date.
6.
Messrs. Blackhead and Company at present own a wharf in front of Marine Lot 34, which will be practically abolished by the reclamation they will have to carry out under the proposals described above. Permission will be granted to them to re-erect a wharf of equal area, free of premium, subject to the condition that the dimensions and area of it are to be approved by the Director of Public Works. Crown Rent for the wharf will of course be paid in accordance with the Piers Ordinance, 1899.
7.
As it is desired to proceed with the work of reclamation with the least possible delay, I would request that a telegraphic reply be sent to me. The necessary notification of the intended sale is being gazetted meanwhile in accordance