FIRE STATION SITE

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 50, 22 November 1932, Page 8

FIRE STATION SITE

City Council Should Retain Tenant VIEWS OF COUNCILLOR “I believe something should be done, and done quickly, to retain the Fire Board as a tenant of the City Council,” said Councillor W. Duncan to a “Dominion” representative yesterday. “I do not know yet if the council has any say at all as to what action the board shall take in providing itself with a new central station, but as contributors of half the cost of the project I should think we ought to be heard in the matter. A loan will be necessary, and I do not think the board has the power to commit the council without its consent. Perhaps it cap formally object to the loan going through the Government Loans Board. “Personally I have always favoured the board retaining its present site,” continued Councillor Duncan, “and even now I consider it should do so. For the expenditure of a few thousand pounds the present station could be strengthened, altered, and better sleeping accommodation provided for the men. On top of that, the council could cut the rent down and give the board a lease for, say, ten or twelve years. j '. “I am suggesting that way out as an alternative to the £50,000 or £60,000 which would be required to purchase the Clyde Quay School site and build a new station thre,” said Cr. Duncan. “There is no justification for such expenditure at a time like this. It is not fair to the council or the ratepayers, and I doubt if it will get past the Loans Board. My suggestion does not tie the site to the Fire Board for all time, and yet it gives it a reasonable security of tenure for another ten years without the expenditure of a large sum of money. “If the present Fire Station were abandoned it would be useless to the council without a lot of alteration, and it means losing a tenant who should logically be accommodated on City Council property. For that reason I think the council should consider giving the board a 10-year lease at a reasonable rental, and so retain it as a tenant.”