CO129-324 - Governor Nathan - 1904 [10-12] — Page 387

(3 CPY)

4on: Col: Sed:

Enclosure 1.

C.O.

386

42641

I find it very difficult a case for the Attorney General from which to get a ruling which would prevent altercation in a future instance of the Nullah being blocked.

The history of this case as gathered from the papers is as follows:-

A plan of the City dated 1844 shows the Albany Nullah untrained. Plans of 1866 and 1839 show it trained from its mouth to the South side of Victoria Barracks. According to the latter plan the Nullah North of the Queen's Road was the tonguey between the War Department North Barracks on the West and the Admiralty Yard in the East. It was the property of the Colonial Government and flows into the Harbour in a straight course.

There was a case of the nullah being blocked in 1869 and it appears to have been cleared by the Colonial Authorities.

By 1900 the training of the nullah had been carried up to the service tank South of the Bowen Road partly by the Military and partly by the Colonial Authorities.

In 1900 it was reported that the nullah North of the Queen's Road, which was much wider there than at any other place, had been silting up for years. After some correspondence with regard to clearing it out, it was decided that the Colonial Authorities should do this as the nullah was then their property.

The part of the nullah North of Queen's Road was shortly afterwards inverted, lengthened and arched over on being taken over by the Naval Authorities for the reconstruction of the Naval Yard.

In 1908 an accumulation of earth and stones, washed into the part of the Albany nullah South of the Queen's Road where it runs through Military property, was cleared at the Colonial Authorities' expense being divided equally between them and the Military Authorities.