RESIGNATION WITHDRAWN

Grey River Argus, 6 December 1940, Page 6

RESIGNATION WITHDRAWN

BY

CR. BOUSTRIDGE

At CounciFs Request Following his resignation from the Greymouth Borough Council at last month’s ordinary meeting, the chairman of the Works Committee (Cr * ■ F. Boustridge) attended the last meeting of the Finance Committee m public, but did not make a statemen t on his position, as the meeting had come to the conclusion that the meeting could only make recommendations to the next ordinary meeting of the Council. At last evening’s meeting, Cr. Boustridge was again present, and late in the meeting he made the following statement: — “I think it is incumbent upon me to make some explanation of my position here to-night in view of my declaration of intention to resign at the last- Council meeting. The remarks I made then were not caused by the loss of my motion to demolish the structure in Bridge Street, but they were caused by the apparent intention of the Council, firstly, to ignore its own by-laws, and also to permit irresponsible parties to convert Borough property to their own use without proper action being taken to uphold our authority and dignity as the representatives of the ratepayers of this town. (‘Following that I was invited to discuss the position with the Mayor and later with the whole Council. At that meeting, a full discussion took place and certain facts, perhaps not previously known by all Councillors, were explained. A course of action was agreed upon, and is covered by the resolutions passed to-night and the apologies received from the parties concerned. Further action is being considered by the Council, and I have every confidence that the matter will in future be considered from a standpoint of adhesion to our by-laws and regulations.

COUNCIL’S REQUEST. “In consequence of this action, and at the request of the Council, I have now much pleasure in withdrawing my previous statement of intention to resign, and of assuring you of my earnest desire to cooperate in the future as in the past in the interests of the ratepayers generally. “May I also express my thanks and appreciation to His Worship and the Councillors for the courtesy and consideration shown to me. I felt, and still do, that I have acted in the best interests, of the district as far as I could see them at the time. I hope that if any unfriendliness has been caused on that account, all Councillors will do as I have done — forget it and let us be friends.’’ A round of applause greeted Cr. Boustridge’s remarks as he resumed his seat. MAYOR’S APPRECIATION. The Mayor (Mr F. A. Kitchingham), in a short statement said that he knew that Cr. Boustridge had been very upset over what he had considered an apparent laxity in the enforcement of the by-laws and the Town Planning proposals, and a general laxity in the enforcement of the policy of the Council, that in his opinion, and in that of the Mayor also, was not in the best interests of the town. However, the whole incident was now happily ended, and he felt that he could say all Councillors were anxious to co-operate for the benefit of the town. “Of course there will be differences of opinion,” added the Mayor, “as to the extent to which the by-laws and policy should be enforced, but I am glad 10 know that we are all in a harmonous frame of mind again.

Sawyer’s Creek Bridge

IN MARLBOROUGH STREET. Another bridge which has been requested by residents in the southern part of the town, is to be erected by the Council, which last evening, adopted the following recommendation of the Works Committee:— That the footbridge across Sawyer’s Creek in Marlborough Street be proceeded with following completion of that now in hand in Bridge Street, and that the reconstruction of Preston Road Bridge be put in hand immediately thereafter. The Chairman of the Works Committee (Cr. Boustridge), said that he would like to see the Preston Road Bridge put in order first. If members of the Committee opposed the adoption of parts of the report, he took it that the Chairman could take similar action.

The point was not discussed, however, and the clause was adopted without dissent.