STREET NAMES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 76, 26 September 1924, Page 5

STREET NAMES

DEPUTATION TO COUNCIL

SOME LIVELY PASSAGES CHANGES TO BE FURTHER CON, SIDERED.1 There were lively passages at the j City Council meeting last evening, when a combined deputation of ■ ratepayers from various parts of the city attended to protest against certain of the new etreet names 'proposed. Mr. H. J. Brown said that in view of the alterations all the residents of IWilliams street, Highland' Park, signed a petition asking that the alteration be to Braemar road. Two alternatives were suggested in the event of Braemar road not being acceptable. The council ■was willing, according to what was said, to receive suggestions, and trouble was taken to get a suitable and acceptable name. Now the council, without any reason, stated that the name was to be Thurza street. They asked that the name they had chosen should be substituted. ■ . ■ » ' ' Mr. D. Muhro supported . the first speaker. He thought only the residents in.the street were interested, but he found that the Fire Brigade superintendent was concerned. They thought Braeiuar road was; quite suitable. ANOTHER. MONTH WANTED. Captain Chudley, representing Seatoun, said they realised that changes had to be made owing to duplications. They asked that the names should be held over for a month, giving them a chance to; confer with the Fire Brigade superintendent and' arrange names suitable to all concerned. ■ Another Seatoun speaker congratulated the council on its past, work, but said that ,at this juncture • the street names had brought them against a wall. At Seatoun they had a beautiful 'suburb, and the names suggested were not at all suitable. They wished help from the council in securing suitable names. WHAT THE COMMITTEE INTENDED. Councillor M. Luckie, chairman of the committee, said it gave the committee pleasure to help get over any difficulties. The position was that the names of 152 streets had to be changed. The matter had been in the hands of the- committee for twelve months, with a view to getting something settled. Satisfaction could not be given to everyone. In' the early stages th'eyvhad numerous letters making suggestions. Finally they published the list of changes to be made, and two officers were asked to go into the matter and report, after consulting the people interested. The list was published with the object of bringing it before the people-concerned. The = council was not committed to any changes, and they could only carry out the changes by a special resolution of the council. THE MAYOR DISAGREES. The Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright): ."It has been carried." Councillor Luckie: "It is not in force yet." The Mayor: "It was carried in the first stage. What is the use of telling them that?" Councillor; Luckie: "Nothing of tho kind. A certain^ form has to be adopted, and this has not been done. Your Worship is in error." Councillor Luckio said the list was published as a preliminary portion of the necessary procedure, and at the same time gave those concerned an opportunity to enter objections. The committee was completely in accord with Captain Chudley's suggestion to postpone making the final change. The committee had decided to hold the matter over to consider objections. There was no desire or intention to force anything on people in the outlying districts. The Government was, pressing the council for the new names for inclusion in a new plan of the city. Several objections had been received, including one from Mr". Crawford, who wanted a great number of names associated with his family, which were not acceptable to other residents. The committee had no desire to thwart the wishes of the people, and they purposely delayed bringing forward the special order changing the names to enable objections to be made. From the • first, said the Mayor, lie had warned the council that there would be trouble over the changing of street names, but no notice was taken of that warning. The statement made by Councillor Luckie that a formal procedure had to be gone through was technically correct, but there was no doubt that had the agitation not come about the alteration would have gone through.

"BEEN FAIRLY BOMBARDED." _'!I have been fairly bombarded 'with letters.and protests," said Mr. Wright, "My life has been made a misery over this business, but I say again that unless there had been this agitation the new names would have gone through " In of that statement Mr Wright read an extract from the minutes of the previous meeting, the minute concluding, "the report as thus amended was adopted." .-"AT THE NEXT ELECTION." "Now," continued Mr. Wright, ."in view of the fact that the town is agitated from one end to the other and ratepayers are writing in letters and are so angry that they are going to remember it at the next General Election . . . Councillor Luckie: "We are not concerned with the next General Election." Mr. Wright: "The next general municipal election. Yes, some of you will hear about it." Councillor Luckie, the Mayor continued, had said that the work had been to meet the wishes of residents but according to the report of the deputation which waited upon the superintendent of the Fire Brigade Mr. Tait had received the deputation politely considered what the speakers had had to say, and turned the proposals down .the matter had been left to an official of the council. Councillor Luckie: "Quite right i too." I The Mayor: "I believe it is the duty of the council to do its own work, not to pass it on to some subordinate officer " In cases where there were duplications it was necessary that changes should be made but to suggest that there were 145: duplications was to suggest something that was contrary to fact. '„ "LE QUESNOY." Mr. Tait had stated that it was necessary to alter certain of the street names on account of the fact that it was difficult to distinguish names when excited persons notified fires over the telephone Yet said the Mayor, there was upon the list of proposed names a French name, and ljow many people could pronounce that name, clearly or not? Perhaps it was that a sufficiently excited person could pronounce that particular street name-fairly well if he could not speak French when not excited. To his Jnjnd anyone ringing 'up the brigade to say that his hopse was on fire would be exc.ited; and the obvious thing, bo

thought, would be to ask the person to spell, the street name. To say that the whole town should be turned upside down because an excited person might make a mistake was to say something silly. THE RECEPTION ACCORDED. Mr. Wright said he had some doubts as to whether an extension of time would make any difference; to judge by the reception given the deputation which waited on the Superintendent of the Brigade it would make no difference whatever. He therefore proposed that a small committee should be set up to meet tho people concerned and settle the matter along lines which would allow the people's wishes to be considered. Mr. Wright again referred to the report of the deputation. An interjection from Councillor Luckie led" to a sharp passage between the Mayor and himself. Councillor Mitchell protested: "This is most unseemly. It is purely political." The Mayor: "You mind your own business. That is quite enough for you to do." "There were two columns in 'The Post,' asserted Mr. Wright. ' Councillor Monteith: "There will be some more in 'The Post' to-morrow too." Mr. Wright: "Well, let it." : The deputation, -after thanking the council for the opportunity of putting its views, retired. j Subsequently the Mayor proposed that a committee consisting of Messrs. Patorson, Brigham, and Morice, acting with the assistance of Mr. Tait. should be set up to deal with''the problem further. ■ . j The committee, said Councillor Luckie* j knew perfectly well that what had hap- I pened would happen when a list of new names was published, but, he repeated, the publication did not bind the committee or the council to anythiiiff. He objected strongly to the proposal that the matter should be taken out of the committee's hands at the present stage. Councillor Aston said that probably the complaints were aimed rather at tho "outrageous names proposed" than at the mere fact that changes were to be made.

Mr. Wright, in reply, said that he was very much afraid that if the matter was left in the hands of the same committee the position would be the same as it was at present. The Superintendent of the Fire Brigade was a thoroughly capable "man at his job, but he took only one view of the problem. He was only, concerned about getting names, "Pickaxe," "Cim Chin Chow,' anything that could be sent clearly over tho telephone, irrespective of what oth«r attractions or non-attractions they might have. Councillor ,T. Burns seconded the Mayor's motion. Several councillors expressed the opinion that the meeting had been a thoroughly unpleasant one; slurs had been cast upon an officer and upon members of the committee. A little tact would have made the whole position clear. The Mayor agreed to amend his motion to the effect that the report drawn up by the committee suggested by him should be forwarded to the Bylaws Committee. The voting was: For 5, Against

The streets formed in the subdivision at Rodrigo road and Queen's drive have been named "Imperial terrace" and "Regal gardens."