POSTAL FACILITIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 292, 10 December 1929, Page 8

POSTAL FACILITIES.

WEST OF QUEEN STfIEET. i HON. J. B. DONALD* BELIEVING Cmco^, Temporary postal facilities ar» i provided in the vicinity of the H, Street-Victoria Street . This promise was made b ~ ; ectl »». B. Donald, J ' deputation arranged bv tl,l !- to a Queen Street Development \ Cst * m the Manchester A S lati ? niormng. ' fla 'l thi a .• Pai !- > ' M - p -> stressed the LTa' it was m no way a political one t?" was urgent need in the l oca ! > post office which would bV i 5 or a "ot only for business Z&fig* for citizens generally. ut a «o "The idea is to develop this L. a business centre," Ba ft v ar f« Hutchinson, director of the sS • J ' responsible for the deputation considered that the time had arriiu relieve some of the congestionS?> city area and to transfer aij? J business from the hollow of QneaitS to the hill m the west of Cs M | area. The Government had aW, , l in the matter of post Cl Mr. Donald said that the should have a post office ?3ft one. There was no need S"& approach Cabinet. It was'withtht power to say yes or no. (Appia™," 18 In a«kmg for postal facilities Hutchinson mentioned several poinfaTt support of the request. There S considerable amount of coneestiJl! both the General Post Office°and a t t office in Wellesley Street at p£j Everybody in the area that his Lso? tion represented had to cross Ouw Street to reach the main offices Bus? ness men in the west.of Queen Street area were convinced that the area coul not be properly developed without postal facilities. r Temporary Office Wanted. It might be contended by the postal authorities that another office would J increase the Department's business Although he would not say that a bit increase of business would result he felt confident that there would be some increase. The provision of the desired facilities would certainly relieve the present congestion that was admitted to exist. The association was not askiiw the Government to go to the big expense of erecting a new building, hut merely wanted a temporary office. The Minister could leave it to the business people of the area to convince him that there was a real need for the office. In conclusion Mr. Hutchinson promised Mr. Donald the full co-operation of the business men of the area. Mr. R. A. Laidlaw emphasised the points made by Mr. Hutchinson, and said that it was the aim of the association to put the west of Queen Street area on the map as a shopping area. The original engineers of the city had been liberal to the area in providing wide streets, and, apart from the difficulty of the hill, there were excellent prospects of developing the area into a shopping' centre, There was considerable vacant land, and the area was hound to go ahead. Mr. P. M. Hills also spoke in support of the deputation. Giving It a Trial. Spirited applause greeted Mr. Donald's statement that he had decided to give the proposed branch office a trial. He fully realised that the amount of business in that area was increasing, and he felt sure that it would continue to grow. The request was quite a reasonable one, and he believed that once the facilities were provided there would be no turning back. It had been suggested that the office be established in the Manchester Unity building, but the Department would have to look round before arriving at a decision. Once this was reached it would not take long to establish an office. As a rule, branch offices did not pay, but in this instance he felt that the office would in time show a profit.