RESIDENTS PROTEST

Evening Star, Issue 23968, 20 August 1941, Page 5

RESIDENTS PROTEST

SALE OF MUSSEL BAY SPORTS RESERVE MEETING AT PORT CHALMERS INTERESTS OF RISING GENERATION AT STAKE Opposition to the action of the Port Chalmers Borough Council in attempting to sell the larger part of the recreation reserve at Mussel Bay to the State Housing Department for the purpose of erecting homes for men.employed in the shipyards was strongly voiced at a public meeting held in the Pioneer Hall, Port Chalmers, last night. The meeting, held primarily for the purpose of considering the advisability of calling a ratepayers’ meeting which would prevent the sale going through, was attended' by 26 persons, who. with one exception, were unanimous that the reserve should be retained by the borough. The exception interrupted frequently, and made it clear that he considered the council was doing a wise thing in that the sale of the reserve would bring revenne to the borough instead of lying idle. As he attempted to speak while others’, • were speaking, he had to be brought to order more than once, and finally he was virtually ordered from the hall. He left muttering some-thing-about it being a public meeting and he had come there to express his own opinion.

. It was emphasised more than once that the meeting was not antagonistic to the, borough council but was concerned only with the interests of the rising generation, who would need playing reserves. Nor was any opposition , expressed the housing scheme, blit it was repeated that there were plenty of suitable housing sites in the borough, but none, suitable for play areas'. As;bne speaker put it: “ can build a house on the side of a hill, but we can’t play football there.’’ As an,outcome of the meeting a ratepayers’ protest meeting will be held on •Friday-night. COUNCIL’S POLICY OF SILENCE. The meeting was presided over by Mr H. Camp, who said that the council had made ilo public statement regarding its intentions'to sell the ground, arid that the public had not been treated fairly in not being- taken into the council’s confidence. An outline of the history of the reserve and how it came'to belong to, the ratepayers was given by Mr J. Y. Love.. He stated that the council had held several meetings regarding the sale, but not one Word had been allowed to get into-the Press, although it-.was a matter which .concerned the residents of Port Chalmers ms a whole. The, area, ho said,' had been offered

to the Housing Department, who had accepted it, and oifer and acceptance were the basis of a contract. A start would already have been made on the building of the houses if there had not been “ a noise ” raised.

The playing area was essential to the'borough’s wellbeing, Mr Love said 1 . There was a shortage of all sports grounds, and Association football had already fallen through in the borough because there were no grounds on which to play. The council was allowing the Government to purchase the land for £BOO an acre, but it had to road and service that land, besides which reclamation activities had cost the borough, he ventured to say, about £2,000 an acre for the five acres it held, that including the cost of a pipe line tunnel from Port Chalmers to Mussel Bay. The only other sports reserve in the borough was the football ground beside the railway line at Mussel Bay. and this belonged to the council with the exception of an Bft strip alongside the railway line, which was the property of the Bailway Department. The Chairman remarked that the mayor (Mr H. S. Watson) had said that the whole of the ground was the property of the council. SALE SHOULD BE STOPPED, Mr W. J. Wilson said that the meeting had been called to prevent the council from selling what they had fought for years to get, namely, the sports ground. Anything that could be done to stop the sale of the ground should be done, indeed, more should be bought instead of selling. That was something the present generation owed its children. That the meeting was not opposed to the council was stressed by Mr C. Knewstubb, who said that the Mussel Bay area had been reserved for needed playing grounds. There were plenty of good sites in the borough available for houses.

The sporting amenities available at present were said Mr H. Williamson. The building of more houses would only increase the demand for greater sports facilities, and that was another reason why the site should be reserved for its original purpose of providing recreational areas. "The children have to be kept off the streets,” said Mrs Nelson, in giving a woman’s reason why the reserve should be retained. She added that swimming baths were another necessity in the borough. “We need more areas, not less,” she declared. “Is it a good or a bad deal to sell this land? ” Mr J. Millar asked. “It seems to me to be a bad deal, and as citizens we should have a say in what should be done. Port Chalmers is entering an era of progress with increasing population.' We should have as much recreation ground as possible.”

Mr J. Matthews said that Mr Love had informed the meeting that the sale of the land had gone through, but the mayor had told him only that night that nothing definite had been decided upon. It was certain, however, that the council was endeavouring to dispose of the reserve, and because that was so no time should be lost in calling a ratepayers’ meeting, or drawing up a petition protesting against the sale. He did not think' the council knew what it was doing. RATEPAYERS’ MEETING ON FRIDAY. Mr Knewstubb then moved that a public meeting be called to protest against the council’s selling the reserve, and to call upon the council to rescind its decision to sell or to take a 'referendum of the ratepayers on the matter. This was carried unanimously, the one dissentient having by now left the hall. On Mr Wilson’s motion it was decided that the meeting be called for Friday night in the Town Hall. A committee, to be known as the Reserves Preservation Committee, was then formed, the personnel comprising Mrs Nelson, Messrs G. Robertson, S. Jack, J. Millar, H. Williamson, H. Camp, W. J. Wilson, C. Knewstubb, W. G. Love, and J. Matthews. Mr G. Robertson moved, and it was carried, that the mayor be asked to make a full statement to the Press before Friday night’s meeting, revealing the negotiations which had taken place regarding the proposal to sell the sports reserve. It was subsequently agreed that a telegram of formal protest against the sale of the area be forwarded at once to the Minister of Internal Affairs (Hon. W. Parry), together with a request that any action by the Housing Department be deferred until after the ratepayers’ meeting. ■