CUTTING DOWN EMILY PLACE.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 236, 7 October 1886, Page 2

CUTTING DOWN EMILY PLACE.

Meeting of Property-Holders.

A MEETING of the property-holders interested in the cutting down of Emily Place was held last evening at tho Council Chambers, in response to the request of Cra Growths!, Kidd, and Holland, in orderto fully consider tho present state of that work About 1"» porsons wero in attendance. On the motion of Mr Mackeehnio, Cr Crowther was voted to tho chair. He stated that trie, business they had met to consider wai tha worku in Emily Place, and the streets immediately affected. Ho thought that they would all agree with hiiir< that tho matter had been lying n,' abeyance long enough. They had come to the conclusion that they could do hothirjV without the assistance of the property1. holders. Therefore they called this meell 'c in order to obtain tho fullest information upon the matter. At Hobeon-street the ward membere had almost succeeded in petting tho matter properly settled. Now they wanted to aettle their own affairs' But he might toll them that as' for as they had_ gone they found that tho compensation would omoont to much moro than tho cost of the work If they could remove the fear oi compen-' sation, then they could see their ■way clear to get the work etarted. One plan was to make a cutting of about six feet at the top of Shortlandstreet, coming out, at the Little Dustpan, and making a comparatively level road past St. Paul's Church. That would cost about £1,100. The other plan was much more important]That proposed to obtain a grade of one in Hi running out to Vrincea-streot, Water, 100 Quadrant, and Eden Crescent. This of itself would of course be agrand work, bat it would require a very large expenditure to carry out, and certainly no claims for compensation could then be entertained. Cr. Kidd said that one of the reasons they had called them together waß because there was now very little money left, and if they did not eecure it now, there were othet ways for the money to go. If any wort was to be undertaken, it simply meant that there must be no claims whatever for coin' penfiation. At present the ward was about £500 in debt, and within the next Is months they had about £5,500 to come, aha it was with this that the work mnet be undertaken. Ho would suggest that at the present meeting they had better appoint a working committee of six to assist the ward members in their work.

Mr Grey asked if the property^owrierii in Shortland-gtreet objected to the cutting down. For his part he would cay, cut as much as you like, but leave us as we were, either by underpinning or lowering our premises. j Mr Isaacs wanted to know why, in the first place, was h'mily Place cut down. Of course he knew that the Freezing Company had a eood deal to do with it, but be knew they had been left in a disgraceful condition for months. It seemed to him tbat they wanted the residents near Emily Place to assiet to torm a freeh outlet to relieve Queenstreet of the extra traffic.

The Chairman eaid that the City Council were under agreement to form and metal the streets cut down by the Freezing Cotn; pany. He thought that if the work «rk completed according to the plans, cveiy inch of property fronting the streets would be greatly increased in value, Jennys ftreet had been much improved by the cutting down of Emily Place. What they wanted was to secure the site of old St. Paul's, with a view to getting a more eligible grade for the foot of Princos-etreet. He thought that perhaps by united effort they might be able to secure a new aite for St. Paul's in Government House Paddock. Then there was another point that he considered, The Art Gallery would soon be completed, and the City Council contemplated leaving these premises for that building. Well, he had thought that they might offer the Government these buildings in place of that in Albert Park, then that site could be handed over to St. Paul's Church. But to accomplish this united action would be required. The East Ward was yet to receive its share of the Council's interest in Sir Frederick Whitaker's property, which would also assist in the work.

Mr John Lamb was also of opinion that the present meeting should form a working committee, and not at preeent disoua the matter. Ho might tell them as information that instead of being profited he had lost seriously by the job ao fir, The best thing waa to appoint this committee and lot it go to work as speed))?'-'' possible. Mr Wildman, as representative of-tin vestry of St. Paul'e, stated that they had decided not to stand in the way of city improvements, and would be prepared to accept the site on either the Government grounds or on the Barrack site. Mr Anderson, the City Engineer, was then called and explained the plane, A cutting of 10 feet would be made in front of the Northern Club, and would run well on to the Albert Park. That would give a grade of 1 in HJ, . tbit would give a grade up Emily Place of one in eleven. He did not think that it would be advisable to do the temporary work at a cost of £1,100. The worichS proposed would cost £6,500, irrespective of compensation. It was possible that the Government might purchase the surplus earth for the purpose of filling in Mechanics' Bay, It was no use commencing the work unless the whole plan was carried out. Mr Gleeson said that he was a propertyowner in Shortland-Btreet, and if tbe iest of the property-owners would be willing to forego any claims for compensation; he would also do the same.

Mr Russell stated that the Masonic interest in Princes-street was in two sections. He was present on behalf of the Masonic Hotel, but tho hall was vested in a separate trust, who were not hero represented. It was the intention of the trustee* of the Masonic Hotel to erect a new building at a cost of £5,000, and they simply wanted to know what would be the permanent level. Cr. Kidd moved, and Mr Kemri seconded, that tho following gentlemen be appointed a sub-cemmittee to assißt-the ward members :—Messrs J. Lamb, J. dftijt E. A, Mackochnie, Whitley, J. Cralg,and Ru;sell. The motion was adopted unanimously, after which the meeting separated.