Councillor hopes to join deputation

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33671, 22 October 1974, Page 1

Councillor hopes to join deputation

The electoral no-man’s land between polling day and the installation of a new Christchurch City Council has “thoroughly confused” the chairman of the present council’s welfare committee, Cr N. M. W. Sutherland.

An irate Cr Sutherland announced publicly yesterday afternoon that she could not go to Wel- | lington tomorrow with an important welfare delegation as planned earlier in the year.

She said this was because i she had been told her attendance would contravene a provision of the “Local Bodies Act” covering the activities of elected representatives between an election and the time a new council took office.

In her early statement she said she was livid with anger.

"It’s all so silly it makes me sick,” she said. But there is no such act. And the governing statute, the Municipal Corporations Act (1954). sets the discharge of a council committee at the 'time the new councillors take (office. Until then sitting counicillors and existing committees retain their rights and duties. Another statute, the Local Elections and Polls Act (1966), sets this time as the day after the official declaration of the final election result. In the case of Christchurch, the declaration is not ex-

pected before Thursday at the earliest. Cr Sutherland was asked last evening how this tallied with her information. “But that’s what I thought at the start. Now I’m thoroughly confused,” she said. “I’ll sort it out tomorrow and get some legal advice. I was very, very angry this afternoon. Now 1 just don’t know,” she said. But Cr Sutherland is hopeful of joining the deputation to the Minister of Social Welfare (Mr King) for discussions on home aid services. Other Christchurch members of the delegation will be

the council’s community welfare officer (Mr J. Fry), and the supervising matron of the Nurse Maude District Nursing Association (Miss N. Tate). Branches in mall Four Christchurch businesses will open new branches in the Riccarton Mall at the end of next month. The four, dealing in soft furnishings, toys, builders’ supplies, and dry cleaning, will occupy the site in the main mall formerly used by a supermarket. The supermarket has new premises, attached to the mall.