INVERCARGILL LICENSING

Evening Star, Issue 25170, 9 May 1944, Page 4

INVERCARGILL LICENSING

PROVISION FOR NINE HOTELS TRUST WILL CONTROL ALL LIQUOR BROUGHT IN (P.A.) INVIORCAfRGII-L, May 8. Far-reaching decisions relating to the establishment of licensed hotels in Invercargill and the suburbs were made by the Invercargill Licensing Trust to-night. It was decided to arrange for the purchase of four hotel properties in the city area and five suitable properties in the suburbs. That means that Invercargill will have at least nine hotels when all .the arrangements for their establishment are completed. Tho suburbs selected fur hotels are Avonal, North Invercargill, Enwood, Appleby, and probably East End. The trust also made it clear that it intended to take over complete control of all liquor which comes into the Invercargill licensing district. It maintains that if such a step is not taken unlimited supplies of liquor from other sources would be brought into the district and the intentions of the trust to improve the licensing laws would thus be defeated. It is not expected that the negotiations for tho purchase of properties will bo completed in time to open them as licensed hotels on July 1, and for that reason temporary bars will bo sot up in tho meantime. Tho Commissioner of Works, Mr James Fletcher, will visit Invercargill this week, and will confer with members of the trust about alterations to the hotels which the trust intends to purchase and the erection of new buildings. Representatives of the building trade in Invercargill will be invited to attend a meeting with Mr Fletcher. About 100 applications have already been received for the position of secre-tary-manager of tho trust. They are from all parts of New Zealand.