A NEW PROPOSAL

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 40, 17 February 1933, Page 8

A NEW PROPOSAL

FIRE STATION SITE

ON CITY LAND

NEAR DESTRUCTOR

A new proposal has been made by the Mayor, Mr. T. C. A. llislop, for a site for the new central five station. The suggestion is that the Fire Board should purchase, for approximately £20,000, the freehold of an ;aere of Corporation ' land near the deßtrucvir, in the angle between Clyde I^uay and the road running down to the boat harbour. The council, after considerable discussion last night, confirmed the action of tbi3 Mayor in making, the offer to the Fira Board. . Mr. Hislop explained that he had had to act without first consulting the council as it was found that the matter had to be laid before the board and the Loans Board before the council met. , The site which was now offered was quite as suitable as the Clyde Quay School site which the board proposed to purchase, but he maintained that even if it were not quite so suitable, but was reasonably so, it was the duty of the Fire Board to avail itself of a corporation site, thus avoiding unnecessary purchase of land when already there were many idle areas of city-owned land. THE COUNCIL'S OFFER. The following letter, sent by Mr. Hislop to the Fire BoaTd, was then read by the Town Clerk:— " CENTRAL FIKE^TATION.— The advertisement published by your-board and dated 31st ultimo notifies its intention to apply for a /loan of, —(1) £25,000 for . acquiring a site for .a Central Fire Station; (2) £40,000 for erecting a Central Fire Station and buildings for the city of Wellington. , . . . ■ "The Wellington City Council hereby strongly objects to the application in so far as item (1) is concerned, taken in conjunction with your letter of the Bth instant, which states that the site that it is proposed to acquire is that on which the Clyde Quay School stands, for the following reasons:—(a) Owing to the, general reduction of values the price suggested of £25,000 greatly exceeds the value of the site for the purpose of erecting new building's; (b) the City Council already has many sites available for the purpose required, and as the ratepayers find half of the revenue of the Fire Board it is essential in these difficult times that they should upt be burdened by the purchase of more land, especially as this loan will increase the rates by at least £2200 per annum. "The sites owned by the City Council have not yet been. fully examined by the Fire Board and at least one site exists within a stone's throw of the Clyde Quay School where the advantages set out in the memoranda attached to your letter of the Bth instant can also be "obtained, viz., freehold tenure, good foundations for engine house at a shallow depth, as well, as large area and sunny situation. "This site has not been offered by the council previously, as members of the Fire Board stated that the brigade could not function-efficiently unless it remained on the present location near Cuba Street. "The council requests that your, board should refrain from making the proposed application until full consideration is given to all available City Council sites." He moved that his action be approved and that authority bo granted to offer the Fire Board an area of. one acre of land in the Corporation yard. The boundaries of the area could be fixed by negotiation,. and the price assessed by the City Valuer was. £20,000. The committee should negotiate with the board and bring down , a report to the council. ■. ' •"-.- FOR AND AGAINST. Councillor W. Appleton sstid that he thought the suggestion would offer a happy solution of the problem. Moreover, sooner or later the destructor would have to go; the land was far too valuable to be used for its present purpose. The important aspect was that the city already had many areas of land lying idle and should not be asked to-purchase more. Councillor T. Forsyth, one of the council's representatives on the' Fire Board, said that it was unfortunate that the matter had been brought up at the last moment merely,in confirmation of action' already taken. ,He expressed, surprise that a valuation of merely £20,000. had been placed upon an area of an acre vhen the value of half an acre, only.a quarter of a mile away, had been stated at £40,000, and the City Council, moreover, had all along insisted that a freehold was impossible. Now the council turned right round and offered a "freehold at half the cost of the figure placed on the area of half an acre. Councillor W.iDuncan: You ought to take it. : Councillor Forsyth: As a trustee for the public I don't think we should throw our money about in this way. The school site, continued Mr. Forsyth, was a better site in that it had a rock foundation,- and he had. yet to learn that the destructor area was founded on rock. ■••'.. Mr. Hislop: I have some beautiful specimens of rock foundation from there. ■ , Councillor Forsyth: How far down? The getaway from the site proposed was not nearly as good as from the school site, said Councillor Forsyth, and could not be made as good until the destructor was removed. The council should have been given much more information before it was asked to decide so important a matter. : NO COMPARISON. Councillor E. Semple, M.P., also a council representative on the board, was satisfied that there was no comparison between the two sites. He was perfectly satisfied that the Clyde Quay site was a better one. With Councillor Foisyth he did not like the way the matter had been brought forward. The council should have acted before. Even at this late hour, however, it was not too late to do something, and as a member of both bodies he only wanted to do the right thing. He was in favour of a conference. The Mayor replied that the whole -object of the meeting was to get the two sites explored by. the two bodies. He did not think that the matter had been brought forward quite ia the manner suggested. It was not until quite late in the day that the council knew that any other site, except the two council ones, was being considered. Councillor H. A. Huggins said that the Mayor's proposal was a good solution. The difference in values remarked upon by Councillor Forsyth was a parallel to the difference between values in Cuba Street and Clyde Quay. The presence of the destructor had been held up as a bogy, but for the expenditure oi' £12,000 new. plant could be installed to effect a saving of £2000 a year and do away with the destructor. Councillor F. Meadowcroft, also a member of the Fire Board, questioned whether the board had not gone too far with the Loans Board to stop the matter. The Mayor: .You can: always .jreito

to the Loans Board and postpone your application- . . . That' will probably help you. • The council then formally approved 01 the action taken by the Mayor. Mr. Hislop remark d that he hoped that the council's representatives would take note of the council's ■ wishes and would follow upon the lines of • the council's vie-ws when discussing the matter at the board table. Councillor, Forsyth said that the council's representatives had always been at a loss in that invariably tho council discussions had been conducted in the most casual and inconclusive fashion. Sir. Hislop said that he could not agree that tho council's discussions and decisions had been casual and inconclusive. It had appeared to him that the Fire Board had been all along obsessed with, the idea that it must have the present station site and would listen to nothing' else.