THE NEWMARKET RESERVE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 203, 25 August 1908, Page 6

THE NEWMARKET RESERVE.

S '.-. .'A. and P^ASSOCIATION MD BOROUGH COUNCIL. yJTSTESi SHOW BUILDING ."" PROPOSAL. COUNCIL WILL CONSIDER PERMA- '. NENT STRUCTURE. ] Thp A. and P. Association's offer to ; - lease a part of the Newmarket Reserve for the erection thereon of a building i for show purposes was discussed at length' by > the Newmarket Boroagh Conneil.' last night. The Mayor (Mr 1 Bennett) .pointed out that the town hall ' sfte was only aboitrt half an acre, whereas the associafion<wouid probably -want > three-cfharters "an "acre, or an acre. ' They proposed- to erect a building suitable for their, requirements, at a cost ' of not less'than £5000, but before going < to such- an expense a fairly long lease would be wanted—4o-years had been sag- • •gested. .And if the Council were favoor•aWy disposed, the association desired fo ,know on wttat terms they would be allowed to take up the land. . Personally he thongfat it -would be a great advan- ; tage to Newmarket. It wouM bring : lots of people along- at the time of the •winter shows, and would be generally ■beneficial to the borough, he thought. CHr HaO, as representative of the asso- : ciaJJuti, -was prepared to submit plans ' ribr-tbeir-approral so-socm as terms could %c !ii imiyal. The association were also -willing to build suitable rooms in the for Council accommodation, readiug Twnm y etc, in place of paying Tent. » • Slrinsnras- expressed Ihimself as being against' the proposition. He considered it was -a matter, in any case, upon ■ which the people ehxmld have an opportunity of voting. The site in onestion Seas a vaioafie one, and -was yearly ■increasing- in value, and to lease it at : a. m-mriiial rmUd would be wrong, and j|TtTumTte j Up *pKSQ3CtBQ. Xnsit it iFoafir not be-tong before they -would be able to lease the site at a rental that 'iwotH. pay all TaieSj and provide a Jitint for the £3000. Ether let them use the area as an air space for the people of Uesnnsofcet, or deal ■w-rih it in 3 soond commercial way. He Iwmtd a vote on the subject. *M*t KjfldEr—was of opinion, seeniff- that-■iik-a-few- yeaas they would be the centre <rf a large population, that a site such - as" the one under discussion -would be a capital, and probably the best, one for recreation purposes, perhaps - - public : baths, and so on. He did not think, j .tnerefore, it was desirable to lock it up for 40 years. Then, again, Mr Han j spoke ofbuiLßng the structure in wood, , sni, in- 40 years -Btle- value -would be left in it. \ The Mayor:" The question of time „( na»ta -with, the -Council. It may be only ■ 20 years. i^ Mr Kmderr I can. safely say as a fact ~] that Mr Hall insisted on a 40 years'" lease. He declined to-accept-a 21 years' f lease. He considered that a substantial j structure should, be insisted upon in any .i iway, and at- ground" rental, should j they entertain the proposal. The Conn- ( cil had no -use for another suite of < rooms until they got rid of their pre- ■ sent ones, aad if they went into Greater \ Auckland they -would still be unnecessary. What -would be more advantageous would be an institution like the j Leys (Institute. He thought, therefore, the -whole- matter should be put clearly -, to the public, before anything-was done, j Mr .Davis -moved: "That this Counell is of opinion that the reserve should -j not be leased at present." \ Mr Leek seconded. He "was -of opinion thatjjf the site -were leased, it should ] be at a substantial rental, and with [ the proviso that a good brick building \ should be erected. Mr Holmes was of opinion that the ■ Council did not have enoogh data before ! them to-enable them to-consider the. matter seriansly. The piece of ground in ' question was dedicated some 30 years • ago for a town hall site, but, unfortu- - nately, Newmarket had not progressed ■ as they had hoped. - It -would be a grave erroi-to-assist in any way in alien-ating-the land from the ratepayers. The ; Council might utilise this ground just ■ as -well as the A. and P. Association, and would lay themselves open to adverse comment by letting the association have the on the present ' - meagre -condifkjhs. _Mr Teed would object to an ugly '_ -wooden -bnflaing,' but did not see any objection' to, -say, a £10,000 brick building. Mr Bennett said he had" no personal prejndice in the matter, but he thought .the proposed bullding would result in great benefit to Newmarket. The town Tig.ll- site, however, could only be used by , ' the Council as a town, hall site, although , .he had no doubt the difficulty could ' be overcome. The reserve itself was , not at present much of -a. beauty spot, speaking from a horticultural point of new, but, as a site for. the A. aid P. • posal would T>rmg prestige -to 2fewmar- 1 feet, and. would T>e of Inestimable ad- . vantage to the district. • So far as the j length of. lease .and building were.con- i cerned, it was for the Council to say ' ■what it was prepared to consider in this 1 . direction. \ Mr Edgerley thought thai, providing i permanent buildings were erected, the : proposal -was one of the best, that had ' happened to Newmarket. He confidently .believed that the association would be prepared to expend £10,000 if necessary. Mr Holmes moved as an amendment: "That the Council will give the matter favourable consideration if the A: and P. Association will undertake to put up ; a building -with a brick or other perran-n- ' ent frontage, and submit more definite ' data a3 to their intentions." Mr Seeeombe seconded, and the amendment was carried by five votes to four.