CIVIC CENTRE

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25736, 23 February 1949, Page 3

CIVIC CENTRE

Sir, —It is to be hoped that when the loan poll comes off an alternative site for this project will be submitted to the ratepayers. The outstanding site in Christchurch is the block bounded by Victoria street, Kilmore street, Colombo street, and Cambridge terrace. The site overlooks the Avon and two bridges, the wide • expanse of river banks, Victoria square, and the wide flower plots in front of the Caledonian Hall. The site is high and imposing, and any new buildings there would probably be in keeping with the new . Supreme and Magistrate’s Courts. The distance is very little further from the Square than the present Council Chambers, the site of which could probably be sold for far more than the purchase price of the position I am advocating. There is definitely no comparison between the two sites. If we are going to spend half a million, why not get the best for our money?— Yours, etc., CITIZEN. February 22, 1949.

Sir,—To judge by reports this morning, both City Council and Tramway Board have their heads in the clouds and the sooner they come to earth the better. It is time the ratepayers got together for their own protection and elected a council that would consider the ratepayers instead of the sports bodies and stop looking for ways of squandering money on frills. Seeing that trade and commerce are allowed to pass their rates on, it follows that all rates are paid by the workers and people on stationary incomes. Recently a Spreydon resident was informed that* the reason why part of Simeon street was left unpaved was lack of funds; yet £23,000 was spent on the Takahe, which will be of no use to the majority of ratepayers, and good roads are essential.—Yours, etc., UTILITY. February 22, 1949.

Sir, —So the City Council wishes to pile up more debts! Our rates have increased constantly during the years, mine are more than double what they were in 1921. My income, like others, is, I take it, to provide for my living, not to be -taken over, by degrees, to pay for certain men’s whimsies. We have a Town Hall already, wrongly named Civic Theatre. Then, what about the rights of those who own the buildings which are to be bought, or taken compulsorily? There is something better than the, last word in modernism, or up-to-dateness; it is, pay former debts first, and keep from laying heavy burdens upon other people, which is an un-Christfan thing to do.—Yours, etc., GELLY FLOWER. February 22, 1949. x