INFORMATION BUREAU

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26491, 4 August 1951, Page 2

INFORMATION BUREAU

WAYS OF PROVIDING. FINANCE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DISCUSSION “I think the City Council should And some wav of establishing an information bureau as a permanent amenity for both citizens and visitors. Though I would personally be prepared to help, I think it wrong that private donors should be called on to help,’’ said Mr W. S. Mac Gibbon at a meeting of the council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. The council had before It a recommendation that it should, in conjunction with the Junior Chamber of Commerce, explore the possibility of members of the business community guaranteeing against any loss involved m the operation of an information bureau in Christchurch. Reporting on a deputation from the chamber that had met the by-laws and finance committee of the City Council, Mr J. J. B. Connor said finance was one of the problems on which the establishment of the bureau hinged. A firm which was a member of the chamber had already offered a guarantee of £25 against loss. Nine of 18 members of the business community who had been approached by members of the Junior Chamber had been favourably disposed to underwriting the loss. It seemed that a concrete approach would produce sufficient guarantees to warrant the chamber taking the matter up again with the council. The president of the Junior Chamber (Mr R. T. Doig) said it was thought the loss on the first year's operations of a bureau might be from £5OO to £7OO. The total cost of setting up the bureau was estimated at £BOO. Auckland's public relations office was conducted by a composite organisation representing the business community and local bodies, headed by the Chamber of Commerce, said Mr Doig, when Mr Mac Gibbon referred to Auckland’s big expenditure on public relations. Mr A. Henderson said the city should perhaps pay for the bureau, but there would be sectional benefits from its operations. The chamber appointed a committee to explore the proposal.