THE TOWN BELT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 56, 7 March 1913, Page 3

THE TOWN BELT

LEASING SECTIONS KELBURNE BOWLING CLUB CITY COUNCIL'S DECISION. The matter which had been the cause of tho untimely adjournment of tho'City Council at its last fortnightly meeting, conncc'cd with tho leasing of a section oi the Town B*lt to the Kclburne-Bowl- ' ing Club, again camo before the Council at a special meeting last night. The bnsincss before the.meot.'ng was to considwlho following noiicM of motion by Councillor VrotK :— (1) "That. sr> much oi the resolution of ted council passed on the 18th day of April, 1912, 'that with a view of making a start with' a comprehensive ' scheme to beatitifv the Town Belt, the City Engineer, acting uader instructions from ihe Reserves Commifcteij, has submitted a plftn to include tbe block of ten acres lying to t-ho west of Welling-ten-terrace, known as section 18, Town Belt. ' The committee haft approved the pl*n, and recommends the immediate adoption of sarno so as to givo the department an opportunity of making a start with the ■work during the coming •eason. Tho estimated cost of tho work, including fencing, planting, etc., i3£SCO. The land has already been cleared of gorse, and tho uuplanted portion, after f slices at'o erected, can be let for grazing purposes in small blocks, an will admit of am area of said section 48 (to be selected) boiua leased to the Kelburne Bowling Club for the purpose of forming j a. bowling green and croquet Uwn,' be j rescinded." (2) "That au area of one acre of section 48, Town Belt, 1 be leased to the ; Kelburtte Bowling Club for the purpose of forming a bowling green and croquet lawn, on the following conditions :— The rental to be fixed by the City Valuer ; the conditions of the lease to be drawn by the City Solicitor, under the terms of. the Aqb^the site to be selected by the City Engineer} and the whole of the to be carried out to his satisfaction." The motion Was seconded by Councillor John Smith. !A MATTER FOR THE BURGESSES. Councillor Hindmarsh thought the matter should be submitted to the burgesses at the approaching elections. It was the beginning of a new policy. Once the land was leased it would be difficult to get it back again ; in time the club would acquire what was really equal to a -freehold.- If they started this leasing policy to sports bodies, where was it to end? The matter should be left to the ftew council to deal with, and he moved that consideration of the matter be adjourned until the first meeting of the council in May next. Cottncillor Atkinson seconded the amendment, and in doing so, said he ■ waß quit© at a lots to understand the indecent haste of the promoters of the main reaolafcioii. It was stated in the Evening Poet that if was intolerable that ,a council which had only two years of life should b« allowed to alienate a portion of the Town Belt for" a period of twenty-one years. The case was far „w orse than that, and for this reason, that th© ' present council had not even two months to live. It would be a dangerous policy to put through- such a revolutionary policy by the precipitate ( ! proce^B^^nliftd, been, '3dpp#d' forth* ■ tjpurpoee. ' DOES THE COUNCIL KNOW ITS MIND? . Councillor ShirtcliffVpointed out that. 'tße-, matter had been under discussion ' i'or some, months, and every councillor ■had had ample time to consider it in all it* bearings. Only a few years ago the council had had a Bill passed through tho House enabling it to do this very thing, and, so far as he knew, the measure received the hearty support of th« citizens. It was time the ■ council showed that it had a mind on this subject. On many subjects the council had shown that ifc had not a mind. The council waji merely asked to lease one acre of 1500 acirec of waste land for tennis and croquet and so on, and he could not see what possible objection there could be to the proposal. Councillor Barber expressed the opinion that if Councillor Atkinson was one of those who were ' attracted to outdoor sporia he wpuld support Councillor Frost's proposal. . Councillor Fletcher pointed out that the principle had already been established by the action of the council in leasing a part of the Belt to theNeWtown Tennis Club. • "A PERFECT EYESORE." In the course of the discussion that ensued, Councillor Fitzgerald said that the Town Belt at present was a perfect . eyesore, and he hoped that the present proposal for the beautification of a portion of it would be agreed to. After further debate, the amendment was put to the meeting and lost, Councillors Atkinson, Hindmarsh, Tregear, and the Mayor voting against. NO POLICY. The Mayor remarked that there had been no public policy on the part of th© council in connection with the Town Belt. The area of Town Belt originally vested in the council had been reduced from tune to tine, and he moved aa amendlaant to provide that ifc bo an instruction to the Reserves Committee to go into the whole question and report in full to the Council respecting the policy to bo adoptfsd in, the treatment oi the entire •r«a of, the Town Belt. Councillor Fletcher urged that thn ometHimenfc, xai being cognate to the motion, was out of order. Tho Mayor ruled that it was in oidcr. - There v/As, h& cAid, no question as to the power of the council to lease portions of the Town Belt. The only question was as 'to how it should lease, and ho considered that it would be wiser for the council to draw up a policy of dealing with the Belt, including* the formation of public, bowling greens and tennis courts and other places of recreation, instead of granting a lease to a private club. That would 'be a datigerous way of starting a policy or dealing with thi B«lt. •The Amendment was seconded by Councillor Tregear, who ctanplained that while lie had to waift for months to get his notices of motion before the council. Councillor Fiost had been able to bring his proposal before tho council without d*l*y. He objected to the Town Belt being takan away. from the people acre by acre. The amendment was lost, the Mayor and Councillors^ Atldason, Hindmarsh, and Tregear voting against. ' Tfie 'original motion was then put and cktn<s6.> the same councillors voting agAinet. The ' carrying of the motion only nfttscteA, the first section of Councillor Ftttofc'a resolution. He then moved section 2,'wh«?h was seconded by Councillor Smith. l ' .Ccjamallor Atkinson objected that no condition of ibe lease had been laid down by the reaolu'&m, arid there -wag no suggestion Umt twie council would be given an 'dpportanity of considering the terms. Tlie' council was .ihujßting any responsibility in that ia»tfcer and 4 putting it ou '<*»(&. t£o ofßear* of ths council. -'■* ContKdiftfr S'rost said the wiolc matter 1« ' ftabmitied to the council for. itS'Opprov*!, jCotuwilloi) Slhirtcljfie pointed out that

under the Act tbo duration of the lease was limited to twenty-one years. The condition of tho lease would be drawn under the terms of the Act. Councillor Hindmarsli said lie was in favour of local bodies having power to lease, but who, he asked, would ever have contemplated the Act of 1908 being pushed to its extremity to enable this particular transaction to be pushed through? Thu land would become practically the exclusive property of the bow]ih£ club, and the general public would be practically excluded. That was never contemplated by the Act. And how could other sports clubs be provented from acquiring a lease j of similar areas? In reply to an interjection, he said he vyas going on until 4 o'clock in the morning in his objection to. the proposal. He went on to urge that the question of whether the council should lease the Belt should be made- a test question at the election. Tho method of leasing tho Belt piecemeal as in the present instance would lend itself to wire-pulling among the council. It would bs a case of the most powerful sports body getting the most favourable treatment, and the bowlers were a powerful body. The gorse argument advanced by certain councillors' could nofc be made to apply lo Town Belt already free from gores. Tho councillor, after speaking nearly an hour, sat down. Councillor Fitzgerald took very strong exception to tho treatment the council had received from Councillor Hindmarsh, who had endeavoured to raise sectional feeling in the council. It was an election speech— a street-corner address. By this time the debate bad lasted for nearly two hours and a-half, and then Councillor Fletcher pointed out that Councillor Hindmavsh had in every detail agreed to the action of the Reserves Committee and the council in leasing a portion of the Town Belt to the Newtown Tennis Club. , Just before 10 o'clock Councillor Smith moved-"-" That the question be now put." Councillor . Tregear : I object to the gag ; ' I Was^ going to speak. The motion was put and • carried by •9 votes to 7, and 'the resolution was carried, -the Mayor and Councillors Atkinson, Hindniarsh, and Tregear voting against. Councillor Tregear gave notice to move to rescind the decision of the council in this matter.