REMUERA RESERVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 250, 21 October 1924, Page 4

REMUERA RESERVE.

MOTION FOR INJUNCTION. THE ISSUE AT STAKE. HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY. In the action by lessees of Dilworth ! Estate properties against the Dilworth , Trust Board, mentioned in these columns yesterday, the claim is for an injunction ; restraining the Board from selling or i leasing the area known as the recreation • reserve, but does not include any claim :in respect to portions of the reserve ; which have been already leased. It is - claimed that the area originally ' marked as a recreation reserve was l 23i acres in extent, and that by subse- : quent leasing of portions of it for residential sections fronting Omahu Road, I • the area available for recreation puri poses has been reduced to 13 acres. i Messrs. Reed, Towle, Hellaby and Cooper t are acting on behalf of the claimants. •, The property concerning which action , is being taken was thrown open for lease i in 1900, when sections fronting Market ■ Road and Remuera Road were offered for s lease for residential sites, and 23_ acres l behind these sections was marked as a i recreation reserve. The latter was leased by Mr. Fred Earl, K.C., the well-known cricket enthusiast, and sub-leased to the ; Auckland Hockey Association, which set i to work to improve the ground with a . view to making it the home of hockey in the city. Assistance came from the i King's College, which in those days was i handy to the ground, which became the , playground of the King's College boys, i Under these combined influences, .with i the Hockey Association bearing ever the - greater part of the burden, a well-eqtiip- • pod pavilion was erected, and the whole . ground was levelled, specially turfed, i and provided with carefully-built cricket' l pitches, till it was in a state of perfeci tion challenging the Auckland Domain ) cricket ground, then considered the best • cricket ground in the Dominion. , Then came the war, and the Hockey Association, in common with all other . sports bodies, found its source of funds suddenly cut off. An effort to have the , ground taken over by the City Council t failed, and the Association had to sur- . render its 24 years' lease and its pavii lion. The pavilion, now valued at some- ; thing like £1000, became the property of ' the Dilworth Trust at a cost of £400, i and the Hockey Association retained ) only an interest bill on a borrowed £200 i it had sunk in the building, as its legacy ■ of the pavilion effort. After the war the I Association endeavoured to recapture its I lease, but was able to get only a seasonal • tenancy at an increased rental, while the shifting of the King's College, and con-1 sequent failure of that source of help, made the position of the hockey manage-1 ment harder. Meantime the Dilworth i Trust Board cut up the Omahu Road I frontage of the area into building sites, i ■ and let a number of them, reducing the I recreation area. I It was at this stage that the lessees of the original residental sites decided to ■ take action to preserve the recreation reserve. The present area admits of about five hockey fields, and five to seven • cricket fields. The decision of the Court. ;if in favour of the retention of the ground, will help the interested hockey \ and cricket bodies in paving the way for \ security of tenure. With that point ' decided in their favour, the sports bodies ' will be able to attack with confidence the j problem of the development of the ! ground. ■. On the other hand, the sports bodies concerned are of opinion that a ! continuance of the present insecurity of | tenure will result in the property being given over before very long to the l builders. I I =====