PORT WORK AT LYTTELTON

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28661, 11 August 1958, Page 14

PORT WORK AT LYTTELTON

Of Council In claiming that harbour works at Lyttelton are not of “para-mr-’nt importance,” the Lyttelton Borough Council means that the project is not superior to the interests of its citizens-, according to the Mayor (Mr F. G. Briggs). He has written a letter to the editor of “The Press” in answer to statements made, at a meeting of the board this week. } “The chairman and members of the Lyttelton Harbour Board have construed a meaning in the Town Clerk’s letter that was not written or intended,” Mr Briggs says. “The importance of the board’s new harbour extensions was not questioned, nor has the Town Clerk or my council at any time questioned the importance of the board’s wefrks. ’ According to the dictionary, the word ‘paramount’ means superior. The letter therefore conveyed the opinion that the board’s interests were not superior to the interests of Lyttelton citizens, who claim that damage has been done to their houses by the blasting carried out by the Harbour Board. ‘‘The fact that the Lyttelton Harbour Board is carrying out a work of importance to Canterbury does not give the board the right to damage Lyttelton property, or to create conditions that would allow boulders to roll down the hill, thereby endangering the lives of Lyttelton citizens,” Mr Briggs says. “The board should do all that it can to minimise the damage caused by its blasting operations. If damage is being done, the board should see that the damage is made good without any quibbling. Your suggestion that the two bodies should confer on these matters has the wholehearted support of my council,” says Mr Briggs.