GEAR ISLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 151, 23 December 1938, Page 11

GEAR ISLAND

ONCE MORE IN NEWS

SPORTS GROUND PROPOSAL

REVENUE QUESTION

Gear Island has been a battleground for various contending parties in the Hutt Valley for the past fifty years. It is once more coming into the news by reason of the demand made on behalf of sports bodies that it should be immediately made available as a general sports area. Gear Island was once really an island, "entirely surrounded by water"; as a matter of fact, it still is an island,, but in places the water runs through culverts. It contains an area variously set down at from 145 to 165 acres, according to whether any dry land or waterways are included. Of this area some acres are taken up with railway and bridge sites, roads and stop banks, leaving an area of 130£ acres available as useful land. Not all of this is at present useful, some being stony and too rough for any useful purpose. A few acres at the northern end have been occupied by a factory for some fifty years. OWNED BY RIVER BOARD. The island is adjoined on the west, , over the western arm, by the Petone Borough, and on the west over the eastern arm by the Lower. Hutt Borough, but, strangely enough, it is controlled by the Hutt County Council, and owned by the Hutt River Board. Access to the island is from Jackson Street, Petone. Rail access can easily be given, as the railway crosses the northern end. There is also temporary access from North Street, Petone, and access by water from the Hutt River. ! Prior to 1904 Gear Island was privately owned, the bulk of it belonging to the Heath estate, whose trustees resided in London. The lower end, .Borne 34 acres, was owned by the Gear Meat Company, and another small portion by a third owner. The island was used as farmland, and by the Gear Meat Company for burying offal not used for the manufacture of manure, the works for which were then situated on the site now occupied by Lever Brothers, Ltd. In carrying out its policy of improving the channel of the river the Hutt River Board often found itself in conflict with the owners of property on the riverbanks. Litigation was constantly being threatened, and fairly large sums were paid by way of compensation to land owners. The River Board then adopted the policy of purchasing the land adjoining the banks of the river, a policy which has brought about reduced rates, for the ownership of the land not only prevented claims and enabled the board to carry out its policy without opposition, but also established a valuable revenuebearing asset which will in a short time, coupled with the revenue from shingle royalties, relieve the board entirely from the need of rate revenue. Among the properties purchased was Gear Island for the sum of £5311. The resolution authorising the purchase was passed in November, 1904. WHEN FEELING RAN HIGH. History also ; ;records that Island'was ' a cause " of'contention between Petone and Lower Hutt at a stage in their history when feeling ran high. Petone; at this period,l was developing very rapidly, and adjoining districts, which did not consider that the Lower Hutt Borough. , Council was giving them fair treatment, cast envious eyes at the developed area over the border and made proposals of marriage to Petone. which, of course, meant divorce from Lower Hutt. The Alicetown area made some move in this direction, but it was not carried very far. Very different results were, however, forthcoming from the area between Petone and the eastern hills, now occupied'by Moera and southern Waiwetu. . A petition praying to be made part of Petone was signed by the necessary majority of ratepayers and presented to the authorities, but the difficulty was that the two areas, Petone and the petitioning portion of Lower Hutt, were not contiguous as required by law; Gear Island within the, Hutt County lay between. Petone then sought to have Gear Island made part of Petone, a quest .which ended in a Solomon's judgment, the child of contention being ordered to be cut in half and divided between Petone and Lower Hutt. As was probably foreseen by the adjudicator, this suited neither party and things were allowed to remain as they were. After purchasing the island the Hutt River Board, m pursuance of its policy of straightening and confining the channel, deepened and straightened the north* end of the western arm. thereby reducing somewhat the area of the island. This also had the effect of reducing the flow in the western arm, which was then closed at the southern end except for a culverted channel. ENGINEER'S PROPOSAL. In 1908, anticipating the great industrial development of Petone, the board made a tentative' proposal to use the island for industrial sites and the engineer, the late Mr. Laing Meason, was instructed to prepare a subdivisional plan. This plan provided, with great forethought, for access, by rail, road, and water. There then existed a private line along the Petone foreshore, connecting at Korokoro with the main line. The chief use of the line was 'to- provide transport for the Gear Meat Co. from' the main works to the manure works, but it also served race patrons with transit on their way to the Hutt Park (at that time leased by the Wellington Racing Club). Mr. Laing Meason's plan provided for this line to be extended through the length of Gear Island, extensions of Petone streets over the closed arm were planned, and canals and wharf accommodation were suggested for boats arriving via the Hutt River. If the scheme had been pushed vigorously there is little doubt that the River Board would today have been reaping, from leases, a revenue possibly ten times as great as it is today receiving. Opinions differed, however, regarding the Advisability of the scheme and nothing was done, although tentative offers were made by the concerns to purchase sites at approximately £1000 per acre. In the meantime the board was receiving £600 per annum revenue from Its lease of practically the whole island as a farm. LEGISLATION PROVIDED. In 1926 the valley was becoming "recreation ground conscious," and Mr. W. T. Strand, foreseeing that the island, now being, rapidly surrounded by residences, could not be held back from development, conceived the idea of utilising the area as a recreation and ■ park area. The board approved the proposal in 1927 and a Bill was put through Parliament to provide regulations for the scheme. There is nothing in the Act to make it mandatory on the board to provide sports grounds and there is nothing in the Act to prevent the board putting the area to any J other use it might think fit. It could,!

if it thought fit, still legally carry out the former plan of making the area an industrial area. The essential clauses in the Gear Island Empowering Act, 1927, are (a) "an Act to authorise the Hutt River Board to develop and control Gear Island as a sports area- . . ."; (b) "the board may, for the purpose of providing sports areas for the residents of the Hutt Valley and the citizens of Wellington and the surrounding districts, in accordance with a scheme approved by the board, develop, manage, and control the island and for such purposes the board shall have the following powers in addition to any other powers vested in it under the Public Bodies' Leases Act, 1908, or any other Act ..." The powers granted include the right to grant leases without submission to public auction, with or without the right of renewal for an aggregate term not exceeding 50 years. Other provisions of the Act are merely machinery clauses. "MAY," NOT "SHALL." It will therefore be seen that, under the Act there is no compulsion on the board. The Act gives authority to do certain things and it "may," not "shall," provide' sports areas. The board is, however, desirous of carrying out the spirit/of the Act providing that, consistently with its duty to its ratepayers,, its revenue from the island is safeguarded. The primary purpose of the board is, of course, to safeguard its ratepayers from the danger of flood as efficiently and as economically as possible. To this end 'it expends its revenue, including that from Gear Island. Except so far as it feels itself oound by the spirit of the Act it is not the board's duty to provide sports grounds. Anxious, however, to see the Act carried out-the board lost no time in obtaining the views of sports bodies and in December, 1927, a representative conference of sports bodies, comprising 50 delegates, covering practically all organised sport, was held. The gathering discussed the area eachsport would require, but no definite conclusion was arrived at. At this time the whole of the area was leased by the board to a farmer, Mr. A. Lee, who in turn had sub-leased 47 acres to the Johnsonville (now Shandon) Golf Club. RENT THE OBSTACLE. In January, 1928, a further conference was held with representatives of all sports except cricket, which was prepared to make an arrangement with .the Rugby Union for the use of the ground in summer. At this gathering the board intimated that it would expect a revenue of £1000, of which it was prepared to spend £400 annually on improvements to the ground. A sub-committee was set up. This committee held various meetings but the question of the rent required was evidently an obstacle and in May further discussions were deferred, but sports bodies were informed that they could at any time : reopen the question. At this time the Shandon Golf Club made an. offer to lease an 18-hole course, but the board refused to treat with any one organisation. : In April, 1929-, the Hutt Valley Aero Club sought a lease of 40 acres, but the board declined the offer on the : ground that the club was not a sports body. In September, 1929, Mr. Lee's lease ! being about to expire, tenders were called for a ten-years lease of the whole or part of the island. Of the applications received the only one to comply with the conditions was- Mr. A Lee, the other tenderers; the Rugby Union and the Shandon Golf Club, each asking for a 21 years' lease. It is 'worthy of note that Mr. Lee offered : £800 rent per annum? for,, the ; whole island. The board was at the time receiving £600 plus rates. As a result of a long discussion none of these tenders was accepted. A further conference of sports bodies was held, but nothing- was decided. Further tenders were called in November, the Shandon Club offering £350 for 63 acres and Mr. Lee £200 for 43 acres. There was also a joint tender from the Shandon Club and the Aero Club of £700 for 63 acres, with the proviso that the board should expend a considerable sum on the ground. After a long debate the matter was left in abeyance until after the new board came into office in January. SHORT-TERM LEASES. In February, 1930, fresh tenders were invited for a five, seven, or ten years' lease, and once again the only sports body to make an offer was the Shandpn Club. Other tenderers were Mr. Lee and the Aero Club, Out of these tenders the board chose short-term leases and leased 63 acres to the Shandon Club at £300 per annum for five years and 43 acres to Mr. Lee for £300 per annum for a similar term. In July, 1933, the Shandon Club, by arrangement, cancelled its lease and took a fresh one for seven years at £300 per annum. This was done in consideration of the improvements effected 'by the Shandon Club. In November, 1935, the board extended Mr. Lee's lease to expire at the same time as- the Shandon Club's ; lease, namely, June, 1940., In May, 1937, Mr. Lee assigned the lease of his portion of the island to the Shandon Club, and the board agreed to grant an extension of the Shandon Club's lease to December, 1945, on terms which must be considered prior to June 30, 1940. I The position at present therefore is that the Shandon Club has a lease of practically the whole area, but is still sub-leasing a portion to Mr. Lee. If this portion, some 20 acres, is not required by either Mr. Lee or the Shandon Club, there is the possibility of its being secured by some sports body or bodies willing to pay the adequate rent. In any case, this area can be made the subject of negotiation when terms are discussed by the board with the Shandon Club prior to June, 1940. AMPLE OPPORTUNITIES. It will be seen that sports bodies have had ample opportunities for securing the area since the first suggestion was made in 1927. The trouble, of course, is finance, and the River Board can hardly be expected in justice to its ratepayers who as River Board ratepayers are not concerned with the provision of sports grounds, but with seeing that the. board efficiently , and economically carries out its primary function. A way out of the difficulty of laying the area out as a general sports ground would 'be for the Hutt Valley local bodies or one^of them, or some independent body, to guarantee the revenue, and then the way would be open for the board to carry out the functions of the 1927 Empowering Act. There is a strong. feeling in the Valley against the board parting with the fee simple of the island. The board when leasing the island has always kept free the portion south of the pipe bridge as it was hoped launch and other boat owners might arrange a harbour and store their craft on the southern end of the island. An engineering problem in regard to the island is the problem of what jto "do with the semi-closed western arm. Many people have wondered why this has not been filled in to provide access from Petone streets and additional land. In the present state of the Lower Hutt and Petone surface water drainage the western arm acts as a ponding area for the water chiefly from the western hills, and is an indispensable safeguard in times of flood/ - ' V I