Park, Not Court

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30472, 20 June 1964, Page 15

Park, Not Court

(New Zealand Preet Association)

WHANGAREI, June 18.

Twtmty-six years after the foundations were laid for the Supreme Court building in Whaiogarei, they are going to be uifed, for the first time except for a brief period of glory when they were designated an air raid shelter during t!he war.

Ministry of Works men startled today—making a parking area of the site. A department officer said the men were clearing away

the steel reinforcing bars, and would be filling in the holies and entrances to the cell. block and basement to prevent any accidents. The concrete area and its surrounding grass area would be used for parking Government cars “until such time as the site is needed for a courthiOUSe The foundation stone, still snuggling under an accumulated pile of rubbish in the department’s basement, made a brief appearance in October, 1938, when the then Minister of Justice (Mr H. G. R. Mason) said the building would be a step forward in Northland’s judicial history.

The Government foot has been poised since then, and in spite of repeated requests by the legal fraternity in Whangarei, who finally gave up the effort, nothing was done.

In July, 1963, the AttorneyGeneral (Mr Hanan) told the member of Parliament for Marsden (Mr McKay) that the court was not pushed ahead as the legal fraternity did not want it.