CHINAMEN'S VEGETABLES. A FILTHY PRACTICE;

Those who are in the habit of purchasing thoir vegetables from the bland arid obliging John Chinaman have their attention drawn to a practice which is in vogue amongst come of the Chinese gardeners in bbc Arch Hill district. Mr Currie, bhe Town Clerk of the borough of Newton, inform us that yesterday he paid a viait to the Chinamens gardena at Arch Hill, aa the boundary between the Newton borough and the Arch Hill Road district. Here, in the gully which drain a portion Of Newton, Arch Hill and. Eden Terrace he found that a small creek which carries down the drainage from the Karangahape district, had been dammed back in; one of the gardens (where there was no water supply laid on), and there was every indication that some of teh Chinamen were in the habib of washing vegetables such as carrots, onions, potatoes in the foul sewerage. On the Newton side of the creek, however, the Chinese gardeners had the water supply laid on. The matter is to be brought up at the meeting of the Newton Borough Council next Monday evening. ln connecbion wibh this matter, Constable W. Walker, of Surrey Hills, made the following reporb to the Inspeobor last month

"This evening when making inquiries among the Chinamen at Arch Hill, I came across ono (whose name I could not find out) who waa washing hia vegetables in a creek which separates the districts of Eden Terrace and Arch Hill, and contains the sewerage of both these districts, and also the drainage from tho Symond-street Cemetery. From the appearance of the place I Bhould say that this hole hapdbeon generally used for the same purpose. I have reported this matter so that the Inspector may, if he thinka it advisable, bring it before the Board of Health and ao that come steps may be taken in the interests of the health of the many who use vegetables sold by those Chinamon."

This report has been aenb to the Newton Borough Council by the Inspector. Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 112, 11 May 1895, Page 2

Wrangle over site for Chinese garden

Councillors knock back donors' preference for Auckland Domain or Western Springs

An $8 million traditional walled Chinese garden planned for Auckland has become a political headache instead of a place of spiritual escape.

The Auckland Chinese Garden Steering Committee's preferred sites of the Domain or Western Springs have been knocked back by the Auckland City Council.

The steering committee is made up of 12 prominent Chinese representatives and is co-chaired by architect Ron Sang and community leader Kai Luey.

The council's arts, culture and recreation committee likes the idea of a central 3000sq m to 4000sq m Chinese garden on park land, just not at the duck pond area in the Domain or at Western Springs.

Gaining resource consent for the Domain, an archaeological and geological site of significance, is considered extremely problematic. Western Springs is thought to be too heavily used informally and for events such as Pasifika.

On the recommendation of open space planner Joseph Zou, the councillors have suggested a site on the 4.5ha headland park at the Tank Farm that is still 10 to 15 years away; a 2700sq m site in Cook St, bought by the council in 2008 and leased to Placemakers; or the western side of Victoria Park once the tunnel to widen the Northern Motorway bottleneck is completed by 2013.

Mr Sang said support from Auckland's 110,000-strong Chinese community for a garden had been excellent, but the council had given the steering committee something it was not happy about.

"I don't want to go to all this effort and find they give me a site that is not very good."

Mr Sang said the committee would consider the council's position and get back to it. "Anything to do with the council takes time."

The project, he said, would probably require five years of fundraising and three years of construction. A preliminary budget of $8 million includes $1 million from the Chinese community, $1 million from local government, $4 million from central Government, $1 million from community trusts and $1 million from Auckland City's sister city in China, Guangzhou, and overseas Chinese.

It is envisaged the garden would be on a similar scale to the Dunedin Chinese Garden, which opened last year to commemorate the contribution of Chinese people to the city, from the days of the Central Otago gold rush in the 1860s.

The Dunedin garden, covering 2500sq m and costing $7 million, was designed as a late Ming/early Ching scholar's garden, largely prefabricated in Shanghai and reassembled on site. It is centred on a large lake surrounded by several structures with an elaborate archway and 4m perimeter wall.

4:00 AM Wednesday Dec 23, 2009 By Bernard Orsman http://www.nzherald.co.nz/arts/news/article.cfm?c_id=544&objectid=10617126