COMPLAINTS BY TENANTS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25245, 25 July 1947, Page 6

COMPLAINTS BY TENANTS

STEWART’S GULLY SETTLEMENT

COUNTY COUNCIL HEARS DEPUTATION

After hearing a deputation from the tenants of the Stewart’s Gully settlement, some of whom are seeking help from the Waimairi County Council in their dealings with their landlords, the council decided last evening to seek legal advice on the situation before taking any action. In a letter before the council the Stewart’s Gully Tenants’ Association asked whether the council could take any action to help in putting an end to the present state of affairs. “As you know, the grounds are controlled by the Stewart’s Gully Company, consisting of Mr and Mrs C. E. Rawlings and Mr and Mrs J. Keller,” the letter stated. “Although the tenants lease their sections, they own the buildings, but should a tenant let his bach or even lend it free of charge, the landlords demand 5s a week regardless of circumstances. This, the company states, is for the sub-tenants' use of the ground, yet the public may enter and use the grounds free.

Six tenants who had refused to pay this charge had received notice that their leases had been cancelled, the letter said.

“If a bach owner sells or buys, he is called on to pay a commission of £2O before the lease is transferred,” the letter continued. “In some cases both buyer and seller have had to pay. “The association is fully aware that the landlords cannot put the tenants out on such flimsy grounds. . . . Some time ago a tenant wished to sell for £2OO, but the company finally bought his property at £l5O and then sold it afterwards for £300.”

Trespass Action Mentioned Mr P. T. Hall, a member of the deputation, explained to the council that the tenants had .been threatened with a prosecution for trespass if they did not carry out the terms of an agreement the company had.asked them to sign.

Cr. H. Kitson: Do you think anyone is actually likely to be prosecuted? Mr Hall: No. Cr. Kitson: It seems to me that as long as all the tenants stick together nobody will be removed. “No tradesman is allowed to come on to the grounds if he does not pay a small fee,” said Mr H. Si Butcher, a member of the deputation, and president of the Stewart’s Gully Tenants’ Association. He said that there were 149 baches at the settlement, of which seven were owned by the company now. Thanking the deputation for its. attendance. the chairman of the council (Mr W. W. Laing) said he felt that the council was sympathetic to the tenants’ case.