GEAR ISLAND AGAIN

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 141, 11 March 1930, Page 13

GEAR ISLAND AGAIN

LOCAL BODIES DISAGREE COUNCIL AND BOARD “Your communication of the 25th ult. was discussed at a meeting of the board held on the 4th inst., and 1 am directed to convey to your council the following resolution which was duly carried;—’The board regrets that it can see no justification for the interference of the Lower Hutt Borough Council.’ ” This was the brief reply received at last night’s meeting of the Lower Hutt Borough Council from the secretary of the Hutt River Board in reference to a resolution, passed by the council recently, in connection with the leasing of Gear, Island. The communication that caused the trouble was one asking the River Board, in view of the rapid development of aviation, and the necessity for the provision of an aerodrome for the Hutt Valley in the near future, to reconsider its decision not to lease Gear Island as an aerodrome. It was pointed out in the letter sent to the River Board that the resolution must not be construed as criticism of the board’s decision, as such action was far from the minds of the councillors in discussing the matter, but was really intended to be of help to the board as the considered opinion of the council. The Mayor (Sir Alexander Roberts) expressed regret that the River Board should have seen fit to accept the council’s resolution iu such a spirit. He again stated that the resolution was not . a criticism, but was the considered opinion of the council. “We are naughty boys, we are, was the comment of Councillor A. Meßain, who considered that the River Board had entirely misconstrued the council’s opinion. He pointed out that a number of members of the Lower Hutt Borough Council were old iu civic administrative work, whereas some of the members of the River Board were not quite so old. After further discussion it was decided, on the motion of the Mayor, to intimate that the council regretted that the River Board should not have accepted the resolution passed at the last meeting of the council in the spirit in which it was submitted and expressed in the covering letter. _____________