The many faces of Sydney P.R. man

Press, 14 December 1977, Page 6

The many faces of Sydney P.R. man

Elizabeth Martin, a newspaper advice columnist for Sydney women who are unsure about the best way to bank their money, was in Christchurch yesterday. Elizabeth Martin does not: exist outside rhe pages of a Sydney afternoon newspaper, but the man behind her does. He is Mr Trevor Lane, aj Christchurch - born publicj relations consultant who started work as a copvboy for the Christchurch “Sun.” As well as his weekly banking column in the daily paper — under the photograph of a Rural Bank woman employee who gives actual on-the-spot advice to women — Mr Lane also collaborates on a food and wine column for a Sunday newspaper. But his over-all speciality is public relations work for the Sydney City Council. “I am in the kind of job where I wake up in the mornings and say, 'Who will I be today?”’ he said.

After working his way up to reporter on the old “Sun,”, Mr Lane moved to Wellington and eventually became the youngest editor of the old “New Zealand Radio Record,” a forerunner of the “Listener.” He then moved to Australia after World War 11, and has been there since. While in Christchurch for a holiday, Mr Lane was interested in stories about allowances for the Mayor and councillors. His own Lord Mayor of Sydney (Aiderman Leo Port) earns $26,000 a year in the job, at the head of a council of 15 members that looks after a city of only 52.000 permanent residents. During a working day, 750,000 commuters make up the difference. Mr Lane said the Sydney council held the rates steady at its October meeting. The New South Wales Premier (Mr Neville Wran) wanted metropolitan area. local bodies to come together, but September elections had not been a good portent for amal-

gamation. “Nobody wants it, because very likely their rates will go up,” Mr Lane said. Several councils had held their own amalgamation straw votes along with the election and voting had been heavily against mergers. In the Sydney area, the local-body scene is badly

fragmented. Public transport is run by the state Government; streets are taken care of by a Main Roads Board; water, sewerage, and drainage are handled by a separate board, and the Sydney County Council looks' after the electricity network. Apart from that, the City Council is in. charge of much of the city centre renewal work, including the new project of renovating the old Queen Victoria Market Building, a huge block of Victorian architecture topped by copper domes. “Aiderman Port wants to see a city for pedestrians,” Mr Lane said. "That may not make him very popular with people who want more parking for their cars, but he wants them to leave the cars on the city centre edges and walk, or use other services.”

The Lord Mayor also wanted to see all council vehicles converted to electricity, and two or three blocks of the busy Pitt Street — through the heart of the commercial centre — would soon be reserved fcr buses, under a new experiment.