CIVIC CENTRE

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26127, 1 June 1950, Page 2

CIVIC CENTRE

Sir, —I am informed that the City Council, elected by the people, has decided to acquire the whole of the block bounded by Manchester, Gloucester and Worcester streets and Latimer square for a civic centre, without reference to the citizens. The consensus of opinion is decidedly against this location, since it is not so suitable as other places and involves a high expenditure to acquire the existing properties. The compulsory taking will be costly to the present owners and tenants, who will be unable to secure central premises or any buildings in which to carry on their respective occupations. Surely the citizens have a right to consultation, and the ratepayers some say in the heavy capital outlay. The very many should be afforded ‘opportunities to express their ideas.—Yours, etc., CITIZEN. May 26, 1950. [The following reply was received when this letter was referred to the Mayor. Mr E. H. Andrews: “I do not know the grounds upon which the writer claims that the consensus of opinion is against the site proposed by the council, as nearly all comment on the proposal which I have heard has been favourable. The proximity of the site to land at present owned by the council gives it a decided advantage over other sites suggested, apart from other factors, such as cost and size. No other site suggested so far is big enough to house a town hall, concert hall, and offices large enough to provide for reasonable future requirements. The council could not. and would not, embark on the major tivic centre scheme without first submitting the proposal to the ratepayers.”]