GREY AERODROME SITE

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 April 1935, Page 5

GREY AERODROME SITE

VQTE FAVOURS- ROAI> CLOSING

By a small majority, the public meeting held- in the Town Hall, last evening, voted in favour ’o£ closing the

roads on the proposed aerodrome site at the rear of the Grey Hospital, in order to allow the construction of the aerodrome- to proceed. It is proposed to provide another road, along the crest- of the beach, in lieu of the roads to be closed. The decision of last evening’s meeting means that the matter will now go before the Magistrate, who has power to reverse the decision of the electors, i£ he considers that the closing- of the road; is not in the public interest.

The- speeches made last evening were on the lines of those delivered on previous occasions, and published, and the speakers traversed at length the pros and cons of the aerodrome scheme. The Mayor (Mr. J. W. Greenslade) presided, and explained the procedure decided’upon. Cr. F; A. Kitchingham, as the mover of the resolution with regard to' the closing of the roads, would be a-llowed ten minutes for his speech, and five minutes for his reply, and Cr. F. F. Bbustridge, opposing the resolution, would- have similar allowances. Other speakers would be granted five minutes, and’ questions could be asked at the conclusion of. the Speeches, after which a vote would-, be taken by ballot. They were there to see that everyone, got fair play. There were two roads concerned, one of which was a “map” road, and had been dedicated. The other road; which was formed, had never been dedicated, but had become a.road by usage. Even it’ the meeting voted against the closing of the dedicated- road, then it would be better to jclose the road in any case, as it would have to- be. closed if the ground were cut up for building purposes. At the request of Cr. J. B. Kent, the Mayor explained that he (Cr. Kent) had put forward a notice of motion for the next meeting of the Borough Council; that the present road should be allowed to remain open for traffic until the deviated road was constructed, so that the residents would not be put to any inconvenience meanwhile.

Cr. Kitchingham moved formally that- the Counfeil close the beach road and. the un-named formed road between. Merrick Street and the abattoir paddbek. He explained that the beach road was a “map” road. The other read was formed, but was not on the He- proceeded- to- outline the case - for tlie construction of the aerodrome, and said that upon the decision of that meeting- depended* to a great extent the- future prosperity of the town. The aerodrome would not be merely a playground- for young pilots, ■but would be an integral part of the aerial transport services of the Dominion. A- voice: And defence! Th© Mayor declared that he would not- allow interruptions on either 'side! A- little later, there were more interruptions, and the Mayor said that they were not there’ to have a Donnybrook, hut to have a reasoned discussion. Persistent interruptions would lead to ejections. . The- resolution was seconded by Cr. R. J. Williams.

Cr. Boustridgo- denied the statement in circulation that he was an advocate of an aerodrome at Taylorville because he owned land there, and wanted to sell it. He did not own land within miles of the proposed aerodrome site, and neither did his relatives or friends. Hie- was not absolutely an advocate for ths Taylorville site, but he was opposed to ground- being taken in the Borough for the purposes of an aerodrome. He went on to outline his objections to the site at the rear of the hospital. Residents of the Blaketown localitv who went on the platform to oppose the- closing of the road and the construction of the aerodrome were Messrs. T. Alderton, .1. W. Stubbs, F. El Stent, and G. Stanton.

Cr. F. L. Turley also opposed the proposal, while the Mayor and Cr. A. McCarthy supported it. Mr. D. Shannahan referred to his land in the Marsden Road area, and stated that, he considered he had not been fairly treated, as he had not received a definite reply to his offer made IS months ago of the area for an aerodrome, and it had not been inspected by experts. The- Mayor: We did not know anything about your place. Evidently the butterfat price then was better than it is to-day! (Laughter.) Mr. A. J. McDowall said that the Public Works report was the only one necessary.

Mr. R. T. Smith said that Mr. Shaunr.han's area had been inspected. Mr. F. Thorpy stated tht- Mr. Gibson condemned the area as quite hopeless, on account of the proximity of the hills.

The Mayor, in the course of his speech, said that they could only take the- advice of experts, and they said that the hospital site would be suitable for years to come. They also said the area would take aeroplanes carrying eight or ten passengers, and tliev would be the largest flying in the interIsland traffic. It was for the people to say whether they were going to have an aerodrome or not. With the deviated road, the residents would only have to walk a few chains further. When the road was dedicated, it could not be closed without going through the legal procedure, such as was being done in the present case, and every protection would be given to the people in that respect. An aerodrome at the rear of the hospital would not do anyone any harm. If they were going to stem the tide of progress over a little parochial feeling, then it was not good citizenship. If they did not vote in favour of the proposed deviation, they would put back the wheels of progress for years to come. After a number of questions were asked and answered, Crs. Boustridge and Kitchingham replied. The ballot was then taken, three boxes being used, the proceedings being under the supervision of the returning officer, Mr F. H. Denton, Messrs A. Mosley, E. Ellery. and J. McGirr were appointed scrutineers on behalf of the Blaketown and Preston Road Ratepayers’ Association. The result of the ballot was as follows: — Votes for the closing of the nn-

named street Against Informal 124 118 S .Majority for if, Votes for the closing of Beach Road 138 Against 116 Informal G Majority for 22 Total votes for the closing of the two streets 272 Against 234 Informal 14 Majority for . 38