Fund-raising for public reserve reaches climax

Press, 10 October 1984, Page 35

Fund-raising for public reserve reaches climax

The Christchurch Civic Trust appeal to raise money to buy the 236-hectare Mount Vernon block on the Port Hills for a public reserve is now reaching its climax. The trust has until November 7 to raise the bulk of the $380,000 required before a final decision on the purchase can be made. "While the appeal has been going satisfactorily since last April, we are. still not doing as well as we hoped,” said the chairman of the trust’s Port Hills Appeal Committee, Mr Graeme Robertson. “This is our last chance, and we still have one month of clear time to raise at least half the purchase price before making a wider call for assistance. “We must raise the money by then, or accept the fact that we can not make the purchase,” Mr Robertson said.

So far, the trust has more than $150,000 in hand — still less than half the required sum.

A fund-raising debate was held in the Christchurch Town Hall last Friday, and lottery tickets will be on sale until October 14.

‘'The Tottery tickets are

on sale in the Square, in Shades Arcade, other places around the city, the New Brighton Mall this Saturday, and at sporting events,” Mr Robertson said.

“Besides the lottery, we have also been raising money with the appeal coupons, private donations, and assistance from firms with the provision of facilities and money. “This support has been demonstrated by Noel Leeming, with the provision of the advertising space on this page, a substantial cash contribution of $5OOO and assistance in other areas.

“While the support of private individuals has been fantastic, the success of this appeal still depends very much on the business houses — the commercial sectors of Christchurch,” Mr Robertson said.

To encourage sponsorship for the project, the trust has also proposed to build a stone seat structure near the top of Rapaki Track. It will form an entrance to the park and feature bronze plaques with the names of the principal donors.

Donations can be made at any branch of the Canterbury Savings Bank. In re-

turn for donations of $5 to $lOO, contributors will receive a numbered “certificate of land title.”

Donors may also “purchase” a larger area of land by giving more than $lOO. For such a donation, they will receive a personalised “certificate of purchase,” hand signed, inscribed with their name, elegantly printed and suitable for framing.

The editorial in “The Press” on October 2 pointed out that the required sum of $380,000 is comparatively modest — little more than $1 a head for the population of the Christchurch urban area — and a realistic target even in difficult financial times.

At stake is a grand and commendable concept. The Heathcote County Council is buying for preservation as a public reserve the Bowenvale block that adjoins Mount Vernon. If the trust can raise the money to buy Mount Vernon, the public will have a large, continuous reserve from Victoria Park to the Rapaki Track protected for all time. The Port Hills are so

much a part of Christchurch, its prospective, and its panorama, that preservation ‘of this band of unspoiled hillside from encroachment will take on an importance only guessed at by this generation. The creation of this park has been likened to the reservation of Hagley Park in its consequence to the city.

If the plan can be realised, future generations are likely to be as grateful for this foresight as the present citizens of Christchurch are for the vision of those longgone planners and administrators who bequeathed to the city the splendid parks and reserves that largely are responsible for the character of Christchurch. The popularity of walks

on the Port Hills, demonstratable on any fine weekend, shows the demand for a significant public reserve on terrain that is simulatneouusly different, interesting, and readily accessible to those who must spend their working week on the featureless flat of the city. The demand will grow with the population of Christchurch.

Rarely do chances arise to put a desirable stamp on the environment that will extend far beyond the lifetimes of the present citizens of Christchurch.

If apathy leads to this chance being missed, the people of Christchurch will have betrayed the vision of their predecessors and failed in the responsibility of their successors.