EXTRA EDITION.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 52, 3 March 1914, Page 8

EXTRA EDITION.

DAY'S BAY BUSH GOVERNMENT OFFERS £4000 £10,000 MORE REQUIRED. CITY COUNCIL TO BE APPROACHED. A few weeks ago a deputation representing local bodies and other people interested in the acquisition of Day's Bay bush and grounds *s a scenic reservo waited on 'the Prime Minister (Right Hon. W. F. Massey) with a request that tho Government should assist in the carrying out of the proposal. On that occasion Mr. Massoy said in effect that tho Government was prepared to assist, provided the local bodies came to an agreement among themselves and that a reasonable price was paid for the property. Those who were interested in the acquisition of the property realised that it would be difficult to arrive at the amount that should be contributed by the local bodies interested until some definite statement was made by the Government as to wh#t it was prepared to do in the matter. Consequently Messrs. C. P. Skerrett, X.0., and W. J. -Organ, Mayor of Eastbourne, waited on the Prime Minister, who made certain proposals, which were subsequently laid before a representative committee interested in the subject. That committee decided, first, that it was necessary, to enquire into the actual value of the prop^sty, and, .secondly, to obtain from the Government a definite statement as to the grant the Government was prepared to pay towards the acquisition. i In pursuance of this decision the committee met the directors of the company owhihg the property, ahd afte* a long conference agreed upon the sum of £14,000 as a reasonable payment for the whole of the bush lands, comprising 620 acres, the whole of the flat land, comprising some eight or nine acresj and the interest of the company on the fore shore, together with the, pavilion and other buildings and improvements on the land. These include the area of about one and a-half acres formerly used for tennis courts, and the price mentioned above is conditional on the company and the committee being able to induce t.he private persons who have acquired interests ih the tennis courts to forego their rights in tho interests of the district. Then a sub-committee interviewed the Prim© Minister, and asked how far the Government was prepared to go by way of contribution, and was assured that the , Government was .prepared to rpvAf a sum of £4000 on the Estimates for the acquisition, of the property. Thie afternoon the committee will interview the City Council with a request that ' ' the council should, contribute £4000, making, with the Government contribution, £8000, and leaving £6000 to be obtained from other M>urcea. The committee, we are informed, is in. a position to state that it has already promises of substantial contributions, and it is suggested that the control of the property, if and when acquired, shall be vested in a board, consisting of'representatives of the Government, the City Council, the Eastbourne Borough Counveil, and private subscribers. Tile committee has secured, in the name of Mr. R. W. ShaJlcrass, secretary of the Sports Protection League, an option over the property at> the price named until noon ,on Tuesday, 10th March, and it is essential that a- guarantee for tho required amount should bo a-sisured^ by that date.