Civic Trust May Seek Wider Support

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31382, 30 May 1967, Page 16

Civic Trust May Seek Wider Support

Support by the City Council, other local bodies, and industry for the work of the Christchurch Civic Trust was desirable, said the chairman (Mr J. Oakley) at the trust’s annual meeting last evening, but first, the trust had to establish itself and demonstrate that it was worthy of this support. It might then be possible to make an approach for this assistance. This suggestion was supported by Mr J. A. Brotherton, who said; “We should have active support from local bodies. It is they who, in effect, control public works and planning, and whose actions affect our lives to a very great degree.” He cited the city’s master transport plan as an example of a matter that warranted the attention of the trust because of its possible effect on the city. Unless a vigilant eye’was kept on the planners the result might not be along the lines desired by the trust, he said. A sound and reliable legal structure was provided by the trust, said Mr A. C. Brassington. It was a means for advancing the ideals of a city worth living in and adding to the pleasure of living in it

“We have endeavoured to encourage discussion and provoke thought and we do not

push cranky schemes," he added. There was a constant striving to work with legallyconstituted authority, and the trust tried to be helpful through a solid basis of educated and rational thought. Mrs Helen Garrett complained about “the dreary little bus information centres'* in Cathedral square. Were they necessary? she asked. Mr H. G. Royds said the trust had been assured that it would be consulted in the City Council’s replanning of the Square, and this matter could be considered then. Mr Oakley was re-elected chairman, and the following members were elected to the trust’s board:—Mesdames W. S. Mac Gibbon, G. Hennessy, E. A Tipping and Garrett, Miss M. McLean, and Messrs P J. Beaven, Royds, Brassington, H. A. Montgomery, J. S. Pollard, E. T. Beaven, G. Van Asch, O. J. Drennan, C. C. Steel, J. Cree Brown, Brotherton, 1. G. B. Wilson, J. S. McDougall, H. R. Hammond, and R. C. Etherington.