PROPOSED HIGH SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 766, 15 March 1910, Page 4

PROPOSED HIGH SCHOOL.

HUTT OR PETONE? QUESTION OF SITE RAISED, During last night" s meeting of th« Lower Hutt Borough Council a deputation was received from the Hutt School Committee, which requested that a section on the Western Hutt Road which had been purchased for the purposes of a gasworks should be allotted as a site foi a secondary school to serve tho requirements of the whole Hutt Valley. Members of the deputation stated that their objection to the establishment of', the proposed institution ■at Petone (for which tliero had been considerable agifa- j tion) was that a school of the kind in Petono would not be sufficiently contraL When the proposal to establish a technical school in the Valley had-come up the Hutt had given way, seeing that Petone was the manufacturing centre, but there had been a distinct , understanding then that when the time came for . the; founding of a high school the institution should be located centrally—in Lower Hutt. In proposing the site in Lower' Hutt, the deputation had considered the : needs of a high school as far as playing grounds were concerned. ' Moreover, it was a healthy position, free from the "smells" prevailing in Petone, and sheltered from the winds. The site which had been offered to the Government by the Petone Borough Council was a quar-ter-acre section, whereas the gasworks section was four acres. They were looking forward to the ultimate amalgamation of the local bodies of the district. Without desiring to 'T>lock" the efforts of Petone people, the deputation urged-, that the site should' be granted by tie - council, in the best interests of education ■ in the district. The capital value of the scction was .£6OO, - Mid it was producing .£l3 per year. ■ Councillor Baldwin said that, in his . opinion, as Hutt people did not wish to erect gasworks in the borough, no better use for the section could be suggested.. - Councillor Kempthorne considered that the council, before giving, awav-any of its assets, should consult the ratepayers on the matter. The Mayor (Mr. Bunny) expressed himself favourably on the proposal, but held that the council should give it due consideration. It was not likely, he thought, that the Government would' accept any site immediately. _ . A member of the deputation pointed oat that they desired simply to. set the ball rolling, and to show tne people of Petone -. that residents of the Hutt were fully alive'to the educational needs of tho district. . It was agreed, on'the motion of Councillor Kempthorne, that the council should immediately notify the Govern* ment that they were considering a proposal to offer a site in Lower Hutt .for a secondary school to meet the needs of th< whole Valley. .