Mayor to visit Britain

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33035, 30 September 1972, Page 1

Mayor to visit Britain

The Mayor of Christchurch (Mr N. G. Pickering) will visit Britain for four weeks in March-April next year as the guest of the British Government. The invitation was given to Mr Pickering personally yesterday by the British High Commissioner to New Zealand (Sir Arthur Galsworthy). Mr Pickering’s visit will be sponsored by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. “I was delighted to accept,” said Mr Pickering. “My first Interest will be to study various aspects of local body affairs in Britain.” England and Scotland were in the throes of reorganising local body administration, and this meant the disappearance of many local authorities.

with restricted power for others, Mr Pickering said.

He would find the situation interesting in view of the Local Government Commission’s North Canterbury area scheme which would entail almost certainly some amalgamation of local territorial authorities. The environmental aspects of local body work and the British reaction to environmental needs would particularly interest him, Mr Pickering said.

“As I understand it, Britain is in the early stages of processing and recycling household rubbish Community rubbish collection and disposal, rather than individual local body systems, even in joining territories, is being agreed on. The siting of public libraries and their relation to city centres is another subject I am anxious to study.” Mr Pickering said he would certainly visit the Meadowbank Stadium built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh to examine means of using the Queen Elizabeth II Park 1974 Games stadium after the Games. He had been informed that Meadowbank was being very well used and returning a profit for

the Edinburgh City Corporation.