Bottleneck Dispute Of Early Christchurch

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29336, 15 October 1960, Page 16

Bottleneck Dispute Of Early Christchurch

To town planners and traffic people of today it is, no doubt, painful to reflect that in 1875 enough street frontage to- widen the busiest of Christchurch traffic-

congested thoroughfares by 10ft could have been bought for not much more than £2OOO, writes “Chassis.” in the “New Zealand Motor World,” That thoroughfare is the bottleneck between Cathedral square and the junction of Hereford, High and Colombo streets. What would it cost today?

There is more to it. though than cost or traffic facilities. Christchurch is the only one of the four chief cities without a town hall, though in the last century there were two in High street, modest affairs, close to each other. Today, Christchurch, now considering the costly erection and siting of a town hall, might have had one facing Cathedral square opposite the Bank of New Zealand. Why not? Because town councillors of long ago, like so many others, gave negligible thought to posterity. It was Mr R. M. Morten who, before 1865, purchased town section 733, which embraced that land now occupied by the United Service Hotel. The section was originally 112 ft by 99ft, but that was later reduced by 12ft on the Hereford street side.

It is said that this now very valuable land was offered to a Captain McClatchie for £lOOO, but acting on legal opinion, he let the chance go by, and Mr Morten became the owner.

Golden Age Hotel So around the Colombo street and Hereford street frontages to the section, a row of shops was built and the Golden Age Hotel on the Hereford street corner. There were the business houses of H. Fisher, gilder; W. H. Jewell, cabinetmaker, renowned for his beautiful inlay work; J. Harley, naval and military tailor, and subsequently that of Manifold, Seott and Company, tailors; C. Makanini, who made a> specialty of

remounting pipes; Malcolm McCallum, watchmaker; H. Cunningham, sail and tent maker; Lavender’s book depot; Donaldson’s shooting gallery, and the premises of Dunning Brothers, fruiterers.

All those shops were lean-to ram-shackle buildings in iron and wood; some were better than others, but all paid their owners handsomely. In 1875 the Town Council discussed the question of acquiring 10ft of the frontage to Colombo street for widening purposes, but the councillors found themselves up against a determined owner, whe vowed that he would sooner part with anything he possessed than lose the corner section. Mr Morten complained that “the rights of the subject” were being attacked when the council threatened to acquire the whole block of land.

An indication of the rise in land values is afforded by the fact that at the time Mr Morten was offered £2OOO for 10ft. But he wished the question of acquiring the 10ft settled by arbitration and said that at the expiry of the leases of the shanties he would be able to let the section at a ground rent of £2OOO a year. 1877 Meeting

But nothing developed in the negotiations until 1877, when, on March 13, a big meeting of burgesses was held to consider the proposed purchase of the block with a view to widening Colombo street, and erecting a town hall on the rest of the land. This action had been decided upon by the council, and a proposal to borrow £30,000 to pay for the land and buildings to be erected was placed before the burgesses. It was an interesting meeting. When the town clerk read the names of those councillors who voted against the council’s motion, the meeting cheered lustily for each man, while the names of the “ayes” were greeted with loud hisses. The fact was pointed out that it was not necessary for the meeting to come to a decision, as a poll of the ratepayers would be necessary. A stalwart leader of the minority for the acquisition of the land was Cr. Turner, known by his initials as “hundredweight,” who declared that no other piece of land presented the same difficulties as that of Morten’s block. With prophetic wisdom he said that the city might not get the chance again.

Mr Morten, when the two years’ lease of the shanties had expired, refused to accept £2OOO, and

wanted the issue settled by a judge and jury. For the public good it was desirable that the land should pass into the hands of the council. The offer of a further £ 500 had only tempted Mr Morten to say that a cheque for £4OOO might prove successful. The site was the best for a town hall, and the future had to be considered.

Cries of “No” greeted this remark.

Cr. Turner continued to say that he wanted the street to be widened as an endowment for 50 years hence. He dealt with schemes for repaying any loan, and said that if the Bank of New Zealand had not been built across the road he would certainly have chosen that site instead of Morten’s, which was too valuable to remain without buildings. Mr Morten was assessed for the properties at £llOO a year.. “The question we have got to decide is this,” he said: “Is it desirable to buy the land?” (Cries of “No.”) “Then go and vote against it, and I shall be perfectly satisfied that future generations. . Voices: We don’t care about future generations. Cr. Turner said that traffic at the point concerned would increase year by year, and'in 10 or 20 years there would be greater necessity for road-widening. “Heckled and Hissed” Old “hundredweight” was heckled and hissed, but his reply was that the action of the dissenters was not worthy of the intelligence of Christchurch. Mr J. W. Treadwell then moved as follows: That as the city possesses an admirable site for a town hall on the market place (now Victoria square), and as the council has no idea the amount which might be awarded Mr Morten at arbitration, and as the larger traffic of London passes through places as narrow as the bank passage, and further, as through the difficulties in which the Government is involved, the city is threatened with the loss of its subsidy, it is inexpedient to purchase the block. Mr Treadwell said that all the council wanted the section for was as a speculation for their children 50 years hence. Even the market place was not large enough for a town hall. Mr Wynn Williams did not doubt that a jury would give Mr Morten £20,000 for the section. If £20.000 were given for the land where would they get the rest to . build? A town hall was not required at that time. Another speaker, Mr F. Hobbs, who apparently had fathered the pet scheme of acquiring the land, was also hissed and interrupted. Mr L. E. Nathan said that in Cheapside, London, 1000 vehicles passed in an hour. They were being asked to support a scheme for widening a street through which there passed in four days 8000 vehicles and equestrians—fewer than 2000 a day. Posterity could be left to pay for the street when there was necessity for widening it. Poll Taken The motion not to buy the section was carried, and Mr Turner asked for a poll to be taken. Then at a subsequent meeting of the council, old “hundredweight” sprang a surprise by moving that the decision of the burgesses be accepted as final, but the motion was lost, and on March 31, 114 citizens voted for the proposal and 616 against. So Mr Morten requested Tillman and Ponsford, contractors, to proceed with the erection of a structure in stone. The foundations were laid, but there was a hitch somewhere. The building did not get past the foundation stage, and for years, the excavations, piles and stonework lay at the back of the old shanty shops. But finally Mr Dan Reese, sen., disregarding the foundations then laid, erected out of Port Hills stone and Scottish granite the Hereford Hotel. In 1885, this was remodelled and added to at a cost of £lB,OOO. and named the United Service Hotel. Now the bottleneck is a problem for those who control Christchurch traffic and, incidentally, for posterity.

In 1877 onjy 8000 vehicles and equestrians passed through the “neck” in four days. On February 22, 1922. between 8 a.m. and 5.30 p.m.. 10.909 vehicles used the thoroughfare, including 8014 bicycles, 672 trams, 216 carriers’ vehicles. 255 taxis. 932 motorcars and 626 motor-vehicles of the heavier type. On a weekday recently a traffic count taken at the bottleneck showed that the peak hour occurred between 445 p.m. and 5.45 p.m. when 1350 vehicles (all tvpes) and 1500 cycles passed through the area.