MATTER FOR INQUIRY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXII, Issue 8246, 11 December 1911, Page 4

MATTER FOR INQUIRY.

There is a justifiable feeling of uneasiness in . the public mind with, regard to the new theatre now in course of erection in Ashburton. This feeling is ha sod upon the conviction that the system under which building permits are granted in the Borough is loose and fatuity, and might easily lead to a terrible disaster. The fact that a gale last week blow down one of the isido walls of the theatre has its beneficent aspect, inasmuch as it has drawn attention to the .urgent need for more efficient supervision of buildings and plans j of proposed now buildings. In thecase of this particular building, the Borough Council actually passed plans and specifications which were not in accordance with its own building regulations; and, but for the accidental collapse of one of the walls, the theatre would probably have been finished, with walls of inadequate strength. It is not pleasant to contemplate what might i have happened ii" this had been allowed and if the building had been struck by a fierce gole at a time when an'audience of. eight hundred people or over was inside. The external walls, instead of being eighteen inches thick at thenbase, arc only fourteen inches thick. When it is considered that these walls have no buttresses and are about 100 feet in length, it is evident that they are not strong enough to bear the heavy roofing that is contemplated by the plans. It surely should be the duty of some borough official to see that plans are not passed and buildings authorised that are not in accordance with the by-laws. The Borough Council is protected from the legal consequences of its noglect in such matters by section 4! of by-law No. 1, which reads : No notice, given to any proprietor under this by-law, or failure on the part of the Council or its officers to give any such notice, and no certiiicato or authority, express or implied, given by the Council or any officer of the Council shall authorise, or be doomed Lo authorise, any building to bo, orofipcl, added ' 10,% or altered, otherwise thiin in accordance with law. This scorns to throw upon the proprietors of tlii» thoiitro the. whole onus of seeing thai Lho plans wore in accord*tmeo with the borough regulations ; and therefore, through their own and the Council's oversight., they may be called upon to pull t { OWn u \{ tnat | ias boon erected and roc-on struct it. It is; .not fair that tlu\v should have to bear this extra expanse; yet, in the interests of public safety, it i, s imperative that the Avails must bo strengthened. The Borough Oouncil, at its meeting tonight, should see that no half-measures are adopted. The _ south-eastern wall of the theatre, which was not blown down, was nevertheless so mucn s i iaken by the gnlo that it lias probably been

rendered unsafe The mortar was not sufficiently sot at tin* time, and must have lost its binding power by the swaying to which the wall was subjected." Tlio Town Clerk has in the meantime' taken prompt action, by notifying the contractors for. the building that tlto walls do not meet-the requirements of the. by-Jaw; but this is not enough. The Council should see to it that tin: building is not allowed to proceed until a thorough report by a competent architect has been obtained us to the sufficiency of the walls. If tho-whole- structure lias to be erected afresh, care should be taken to see thatthe foundations as well as the thickness of the walls are such as to secure tho absolute .safety of the building. The matter is one of so much gravity that Councillors should insist upon a reform of the system under, which building permits are granted, and under which it is apparently possible for an insecure building to be authorised and used for purposes of public entertainment. ft is fortunate that an opportunity it* afforded of doing this, before the necessity for it was impressed by a.frightful catastrophe.