PROGRESSIVE MOVE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 13 August 1924, Page 4

PROGRESSIVE MOVE.

COMMUNITY LIGHTING. SCHEME FOR HAWERA. The gathering of business men at the Islington luncheon rooms last evening to discuss community lighting was, by common consent, tlie most successfulof the kind that has yet been held in Hawera, and the response to the invitations sent out must have been highly gratifying to the promoters—the Hawera Retailers’ Association. Mr L. A. Bone (Mayor) presided, and fully 70 people were present, including one lady. The business set down for discussion was preceded by dinner. Mr Bone said he wished to congratulate the promoters on the idea which had led to so large a gathering. Many ways had. been tried with the same end in view, and nothing had succeeded like the dinner. (Laughter.) Those present had the intei’ests of the town at heart, and they were there to discuss any ideas that would assist progress. While it had to be admitted that things had been a little bad lately, and they seemed to have been making progress backwards, the bottom had not fallen out of the town, and he was sure that good times were ahead. What they wanted to do was to brighten up the town, and make it more attractive and better known. After seeing other towns he w,as satisfied that Hawera was in the van, and could be counted among the most goahead towns in the Dominion. With regard to advertising, they would have to be careful and advertise judiciously. He suggested that hoardings on roads leading to the town about three miles out might be adopted with beneficial results. Hawera was not the only place in which business had been quiet, and all towns in the ' Dominion had been passing through similar experiences. They had the testimony of travellers to this effect. One of their aims should be to interest the people in all the amenities of municipal life, and thus attract strangers to the. town. Many people were coming out to New Zealand from the Old Country, and they wanted to interest some of these people in Hawera, so that they would elect to make their homes here. Poor business in the past might be attributed to various causes, the moratorium'; the low price for butterfat, or land values, but whatever the cause they wanted' to improve matters. He implored all to talk, the'town up. Nothing was to be gained by a pessimistic tone, and it was always wise to take a cheerful view of things. Mr Gilbert would explain to them the scheme which was to engage their attention that evening, and at future meetings they might take up other topics, such as banking, insurance, and the Labour Department. Mr Gilbert, speaking for the executive of the Retailers’ Association, said lie was very pleased to see so many of the business people together. The gathering was the first of a series they hoped to hold. Dealing with eommunity lighting, he said that from enquiries made it would not be a very serious matter financially. It had already been adopted in New Plymouth and for some parts of Wellington, as well as hi . different places throughout the Dominion. The idea for Hawera "’as to have a row of lights under the verandahs along each side of the street. The lights would all be turned on at a particular time, and also turned off at the Electric Lighting Company’s depot. The lights would burn for about three hours, or longer if desired. A rough estimate, to which they were not so far committed, was 30s per lamp for wiring and installa-' tion, and 2s 3d per month per lamp for current. W ith all due respect to those responsible for the present system, they needed something better than they had, and such a scheme as had been outlined would have a wonderful effect in brightening up the' town.

Mr Gilbert then moved: “That in the opinion of the business people here assembled it is desirable in the interests of Hawera as a business centre that a scheme of community lighting be adopted, and that the executive to the Retailers’ Association be authorised to make arrangements for the carrying out of such a scheme.”

Mir Mclla'e said he was one of the individuals who had the courage to get out of the. main street, and asked how he was going to benefit by the scheme. Mr Strachan said that if community lighting was adopted .it would be for the good of all, and gave some information as to the kind of lights that should be used both for inside and outside. In the former ease Pittsburg were best, and they were also inexpensive.

Mr Gilbert said there was no compulsion to come into the scheme, but the Electric Company insisted on a minimum of 80 lights, so that they' were up against a stiff proposition. He was very Hopeful that they would be able to get that number, and they would take as many more as possible. Those whose business premises were not in the main stieet would be under a disadvantage, and where .there were big gaps the wiring would be too costly for me scheme to succeed. The scheme would apply principally to High stieet, but the effect would be such as to repay them well for thei,r outlay. Replying to a question, Mr Gilbert said the scheme could exteim down Regent Street as far as the Star office, and along part of Union Street, but it could not be extended to the store at iNolantown. Mr Taylor (McCormick and Taylor; leterred to the darkness of P.rincess Street, and suggested that the Rost Office authorities might be induced to place a light at the Rost Office. Air Lester said that if th.e scheme received the whole-hearted support of the. business people there was no limit to the possibilities^of extension. Those too tar away to benefit may come in later, and t-bev may at present get some concession for individual schemes fiorn the Electric Lighting Company. Air Rage asked which would be the cheaper, individual or community lighting.

Mr Gilbert replied that be had not gone into that yet. Air Dixon supported the Alayor in his view that it was a mistake to go about complaining about business. Everywhere business had been bad. lhey wanted to strike a. different note, lersonally he bad bad one of the best years he had ever experienced. A voice: Advertising. Mr Dixon, continuing, said he believed Hawera to be oim of the best towns in New Zealand for its size, aifd they had much to be proud of. As for croakers, it would be a good thing to get up a subscription to send them away to see what other towns were like. It was good to be optimistic in ousin&ss. There was something eontageous about it, and it attracted custom. A man was not going to get people to shop by continually grumbling. He believed in living* on the sunny side of the street, and thought they should carry a smile even though things were not as good as they might be. He hoped one result of the meeting would be more optimism. If so they would have a great improvement before long. He was a great believer in community lighting. They had in Hawera shops that would grace any

city, and which would compare with some of those in Wellington. Travellers had often made that statement. But what was the use of putting money into buildings and stock if they did not do something to induce the people to buy in the town. To this end community lighting would be helpful. One of the best advertising mediums was the shop window, and lie believed in using the window as well as the newspaper. He urged also that the people should be given good service, and that theij- confidence and support should be won in this way. Some of the business people had gone in for the time switch in lighting, but he would cut this out to-morrow if he could get community lighting, which he felt sure would benefit business in a very short time. He hoped no one would hold back from the scheme.

Mr Latham said he was too far-away from the main street to benefit from the scheme, and would prefer to see some other idea which would be more popular with the farmers adopted. The farmers had to leave for home at about 3 or 4 o’clock, and would not be in a position to appreciate the lighting at night. His opinion was that one of the reasons for the bad times was the restrictions on motor traffic. When he came to the town about four years ago there were no restrictions, and tlie streets always looked busy. Old peupie would some into town by car ami would sit in a car watching the traffic or conversing with their friends while other members of the family did the shopping. Now cars were not allowed to stand in High Street more than a quarter of an hour, and people now declined to ecme to Hawera, preferring to go to Eltham or Stratford, where there wei-e no irksome restrictions. It would be a goed idea to approach the Borough Council with a request that the by-law be rescinded. Mir Brunette said that tlie by-laws against a car standing in High Street did not apply as long as someone was in the car. It only applied toi unattended cars.

Mr Evans, pointed out that it would not pay to include in the scheme a,ny business premises that were not close together, and said it would be impossible to bring in Nolantown, as suggested by Mr Page. Mr Dixon, referring to the by-law, said it .would never do to remove the restrictions an motor-cars. There were already quite enough accidents. A line of motor-cars may give Eltham a busv appearance, but with a town the size of Hawera such a condition of things could not be permitted. Mr Townsend asked if Mr Evans could give any guarantee that the scheme could be brought into operation before Chritsmas provided it was adopted. Mr Evans said he was prepared to guarantee that the scheme will be working almost within three weeks if they decided in favour of it. Each lamp would be 200 candle power. Mr Bullock said that the Electric Lighting Company was prepared to iustal the points and do the wiring and charge individuals, but the Retailers’ Association would have to collect tli e amounts payable for current. To providefgainst loss and for the cost of collecting about 3d per month would have to be put on, which would mean a cost lor each lamp of about- 2s 6d or 2s 8d per month. This would only mean about Id per night, which no one would begrudge. The system proposed would not suit certain shops, and they would have to provide their own. The Electric Lighting Company had no objection to any outsider doing the work of installation from any shop provided it was done under their supervision. It was intended to make a canvas the following day of the business people with, a view to learning how many were prepared to come into the scheme. Mr Gilbert said it was quite probable that as far as expense was concerned they would be better off with the scheme than at present. The motion, which was seconded by Mr Strachan, was carried unanimously, with enthusiasm.