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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Oamaru Harbour Board

Oamaru Harbour Board . This Board was originally established in 1869 under the name of the Oamaru Dock Trust, and took its present title under an ordinance of 1874. The board consists of fourteen members, five of whom are representative, five elective, and, four nominated. Members for 1904: Messrs J. S. Holmes (chairman), W. W. Wylie, D. Borrie, John Reid, Alfred Avery, W. H. Rose, Joseph Williams, James Craig, J. M. Brown (Mayor of Oamaru), J. L. Allan, R. W. Monson, George Brownlee, David Ross and J. G. Nicholls. The board's chief officers are Mr. Thomas Forrester (secretary), and Capt. James Ramsay (harbour matter). The first chairman of the board was the Hon. H. J. Miller (now Sir Henry Miller), who held office until 1876, when he was succeeded by Mr. George Sumpter, who filled the position till 1890, when Mr. J. H. Barr was appointed; and the present chairman, Mr. J. S. Holmes, has held the position since 1895. The harbour works comiit of a concrete breakwater, 1850 feet in length, and a rubble wall of 1750 feet, and these shelter the wharves, the names and lengths of which are as follows: Macandrew wharf, 400 feet; Normanby wharf, 510 feet; Sumpter wharf. 670 feet; and Cross wharf, 300 feet. The total length of the wharves is 1880 feet. The whole area in front of the wharves has been dredged, and basins on each side of the Sumpter wharf have been excavated to give accommodation to the large meat freezing vessels. As there are no large rivers to the south of the breakwater, the work of keeping the entrance clear is insignificant, and the small amount of unavoidable silting is from time to time removed at comparatively little expense by means of a dredge. During the progress of the works, about sixteen acres of land have been reclaimed from the foreshore. Two portions of this area have been let, and from these and from adjacent land originally granted as an endowment, the Board receives rentals amounting to £1000 a year. The construction of the breakwater was commenced in 1871, in accordance with designs furnished by Mr. John McGregor, C.E., of Dunedin, and was completed in 1885, at a cost of £182,000. The wharves and approaches cost about £42,000, the north mole and reclamation about £30,500, and with the outlay on the dredge, dredging, engineering, and minor expenses, there has been a total expenditure of over £300,000. An idea of the progress made by the port may be gathered from a comparison of the vessels entered outwards for the years 1870 and 1902. The tonnage for the first-named year was 31,279, and for the latter 148,536 tons. The harbour has been of very great service to the district, but has been oppressively affected in its operations by the unfair reduction of railway rates, calculated to destroy the sea traffic between Dunedin and the port of Oamaru. This reduction and the depreciation in the value of the board's endowment have seriously crippled the finances of the board.