Complacency main worry for appeal

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 9

Complacency main worry for appeal

The public should not conclude from positive Port Hills Appeal progress next week that the fund raising push to buy Mount Vernon land for a park was over, said the appeal chairman, Mr Graeme Robertson last evening.

“There is no way the appeal is over at this point,” said Mr Robertson. “It just means we are moving into another stage. There is an awful lot still to be done.”

If financial discussions on Monday relating to contributions from several businesses had a satisfactory outcome, Mr Robertson would ask the Christchurch Civic Trust board to confirm formally its intention to proceed with the purchase of the 236 ha Mount Vernon property for a total sum of $380,000, with a possession date of January 31.

He would also tell the trust that it should complete negotiations to form a Mount Vernon Park Trust, to be responsible for overall management of the property after January 31.

The Port Hills Appeal

Committee should also bereconstituted to bring in new members as required to complete fund-raising. An initial option to purchase the land was signed last December. “In. the intervening months we have not only educated Christchurch people about the importance of the property, but also extracted from them a sum

in excess of $300,000,” said Mr Robertson. The financial target had seemed impossible at times through the winter, and he had privately questioned his own sanity for being involved, he said. However, the team’s efforts had always come through “until today when, without appearing too confident, we are almost there,” Mr Robertson said.