Mayoress attacks ‘concrete monstrosities’

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33062, 1 November 1972, Page 6

Mayoress attacks ‘concrete monstrosities’

Christchurch women must say “no” to the many concrete monstrosities going up, the Mayoress (Mrs Alexia Pickering) told a gathering of more than 300 women at the Town Hall yesterday. Christchurch, known for its beautiful gardens, its style of architecture, and now its Town Hall, had its own character which must be maintained and improved, she said.

Christchurch must be allowed to go on looking different from the rest of New Zealand by retaining its character and environment, she said.

“It would be a great pity to lose some of the fine old buildings, if they can be used, and replace them with new ones,’’ Mrs Pickering said. “We must say ‘no’ to concrete monstrosities. We have the democratic right to express our views on what is happening in our city.” The Post Office clock in Cathedral Square should also be kept to help retain the character of Christchurch, she said. Women could do much to brighten up and help beautify Christchurch, if they tried. They could work towards having more and clearer street signs put up in Christchurch — “the most poorly sign-posted city in New Zealand.” They could do much for the young in helping to provide more places for them to go in their leisure time; more to alleviate the loneliness of old folk; and more for young mothers tied to their homes with young children. “INFLUENTIAL OPINION” Mrs Pickering emphasised what she said was a need for women’s organisations to become more involved in city affairs. “We should all be interested in what goes on around us, and take our part,” she said Women made up a much stronger body of influential opinion than they gave themselves credit for, and it was over to them to see that forces for good were maintained and improved. There was tremendous scope for women, but they must be united in their ideas to put them into practice, Mrs Pickering said.

“Who sets the standards in the home? The women,” she said. “So why can’t we move out of our homes, without abandoning them, broaden our horizons, and bring these standards into the community? Women have sensible attitudes, and if they bring them to the city, through organisations, it can only grow from them. I feel Christchurch is a city on the move, and it is over to the women to see it goes on that way.”

Mrs Pickering’s audience represented 150 women’s organisations and others with mainly women members. Most had attended Mrs Pickering’s meetings for women’s organisations, held this year, to stimulate interest in civic affairs. Yesterday, she was assisted by wives of Christchurch City Councillors in entertaining the guests at morning coffee. The guests represented nationally organised associations; church, welfare, educational, sports, music and arts and crafts groups; school old girls’ associations; town and

countrywomen’s and Commonwealth groups; and Christchurch residents from other countries. They wore name tags and mixed freely. One woman must have spoken for many when she said: “I had no idea that some of these organisations existed.” DISCUSSIONS

During the year, discussions had been held at her meetings on the re-designing of Cathedral Square, on transport, rubbish disposal, and other topics on which women were given the opportunity to express their views, Mrs Pickering said. “I was very pleased to hear country women emphasise the need for rest rooms for women coming to town,” she said. The existing rest rooms and creche had been improved. A toilet for boys from about seven to 10 would be provided on the ground floor of the building, and toilet facilities for people in wheelchairs.

Though no decision had come out of the discussion

on transport, it had been a good opportunity to hear what women, who were particularly involved, had had to say, Mrs Pickering said. On rubbish disposal, Mrs Pickering suggested that the Christchurch City Council might amalgamate on this “contentious issue” with other councils which wdre giving different services to their ratepayers. “It would be much better to have a combined rubbish-disposal service, I feel,” Mrs Pickering said.

She praised the Christchurch Civic Pride Association for the work it had done in encouraging women to thihk about litter and whether or not bins enhanced the city. BEAUTIFYING SOCIETY

Mrs Pickering appealed to women to support the Christchurch Beautifying Society during the next 12 months in its efforts on behalf of all citizens to make Christchurch look its most attractive for the Commonwealth Games. “If all women’s organisations gave $5 to this society this would raise at least $l5OO for its work,” she said.

Another suggestion was that some women’s organisations might take responsibility in helping to raise funds for the Marriage Guidance Council, staffed by voluntary workers.

“This council does not get much publicity, because of the nature of its work, and though it receives a Government grant, many of its counsellors have to spend time fund-raising when they could be doing more of their specialised work for the community,” Mrs Pickering said. Many women’s organisations and service clubs, she said, had already done a tremendous amount in helping to provide for the needs of others. TOWN HALL ASSET

Discussing the Town Hall, Mrs Pickering said that 104,000 ticket-holders had already been through it since it opened, which number did not include the scores of individual sight-seers.

“The Town Hall will stimulate interest in all activities in Christchurch,” she said. “Christchurch has something in this area that could be built up into a cultural centre of New Zealand and gradually be recognised as such.” When topics for discussion were invited from the audience, one speaker suggested that women should start a campaign against vandalism. Another suggested a move to improve street decoration for Christmas and other special occasions. One speaker asked if anything could be done about motor-cyclists and their noise in Cathedral Square. Mrs Pickering asked the

audience if it wished her to continue her gatherings for women next year — and a round of applause indicated, a strong “yes” to her question.

In thanking Mrs Pickering for her hospitality, Mrs Doreen Grant paid tribute to the Mayoress for the vast amount of time and effort she had put into learning about and understanding the work of women’s organisations. Mrs Pickering had done this in a construcive way by bringing together representatives of the many women’s groups so that they could learn about one another’s aims, Mrs Grant said.

In the photograph above, Mrs Pickering (right) is shown with two guests representing the Christchurch branch executive of the National Council of Women. Mrs G. Clarke (left) is a delegate from the Home Science Alumnae and Mrs J. H. Strachan, a League of Mothers delegate.