EXPERTS' OPINION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 140, 16 June 1939, Page 10

EXPERTS' OPINION

MAYOR'S REMARKS

RESENTED BY MINISTER

"I was amazed and amnsed when I read his Worship the Mayor's comments at the annual meeting of the Aero Club last night, with regard to the deputation which waited on me yesterday." said the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) today. "His Worship, together with the City Engineer, the City Solicitor, and the general manager cf the electricity iepartment, waited upon me with th 3 request that 1 give them authority to increase the height of the present chimney-stack at the Evans la: Powerhouse to 200 feet. I understand that it is now 104 feet. Recently, acting under my authority as Minister of Public Works, 1 gazetted a notice forbidding, without my consent, the erection of any structure more than 30 feet above the ground on, or in the vicinity of, the Rongotai Aerodrome. At this interview the Rongotai Airport Committee, which includes Group Captain Saunders, Group Captain Wilkes, Commander Bolt, Commander Gerrand, and Squadron-Leader Gibson, was present. I frankly told the Mayor that I -vas not an aviatoi and j did not feel inclined to comply with I his request unless I had the opinion j of the experts who had to do the fly-

ing. I asked these five gentlemen, in; the presence of his Worship, whether they thought it would be safe foi that chimney to be increased in height. Every one of them stated emphatically that it would be a danger, and I told his Worship that in view of the expert advice I could not comply with his request. "The Mayor, in his statement, said that there was a display of bad temper and lack of judgment on the part of these gentlemen. The only person present who was angry, perturbed, and petulant was the Mayor himself, who was unnecessarily sharp in some of his comments. "He says in his statement that there was only one thought and that was the aerodrome. He might truthfully have said that there was only one thought j and that was safety. I am sure that the gentlemen present were just as anxious as his Worship to do the right thing by the city whether it be electrical power or any other service, and they are still prepared to help in any direction. "I feel that - am expressing their sentiments in saying that I resent his | Worship's comment and say that it is I untrue and unjustifiable."