FINANCIAL VIEW.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 92, 18 March 1936, Page 8

FINANCIAL VIEW.

SHOWGROUNDS SUBDIVISION.

NATURE OF PROPOSALS

Further information is now available concerning the nature of the proposals, outlined in the “Standard” yesterday, for the disposal of part of the Showgrounds property in Cuba Street and the acquisition of a property further afield as a site for future Spring Show fixtures.

At a special meeting of the general committee of the Manawatu and West Coast A. and P. Association, called for the purpose, proposals were advanced by Mr M. A. Eliott for the sale of about 25 acres, and he gave his reasons. Finance, he said, -was the main inducement. At present the association was paying about £750 per annum in interest on mortgage indebtedness of about £17,000. This was a crushing overhead charge, which the small profit on the two Shows would mot stand. It meant that the association was getting further behind each year. Twenty-five acres, stated Air Eliott, would subdivide into about 114 sections, a reliable estimate of the average value being £2OO per section, or an aggregate of £23,000. Allowing £2OO for survey costs, £3600 for reading and £ll4O for agents’ commission, £IB,OOO net should be realised. This would still leave eight acres with all the Winter Show buildings and the Breeders’ Club, the value of the land being assessed at £SOOO and buildings £7500, a total of £12;500. Continuing, Mr Eliott stated that a very desirable property of 42 acres could be purchased for not more than £7O per acre, probably less, involving £3OOO. The cost of clearing and levelling the ground, and re-erecting the small grandstand, also cattle, sheep and pig pavilions, could be estimated at £2750.

Funds totalling £20,000 should be available on the basis of £IB,OOO for the sale of the Showgrounds land, a.nd £2OOO for the Featherston Street property. An _ expendituv> of £22.750 would be incurred—£lo,ooo for repayment of mortgages, £7OOO in repayment of bank overdraft, £3OOO for the new ground and £2750 for the removal of buildings. This would leave the association with an asset of £12,500 for Winter Show buildings and land, and, £SOOO for the new ground and buildings, a total of £17,500. Liabilities would be reduced to £2500, and interest to only £ll2 per annum—a very happy position. Even if the cost of the re-erection of buildings were double the estimate, stated Mr Eliott, and totalled £4OOO, the additional £2OOO could easily be paid off in two years, as there would be an annual saving of £640 a year in interest alone. The loss of the members’ stand removed the chief objection to moving the Spring Show to new grounds, as the remaining stock buildings could easily be moved at a reasonable cost.

The new ground the association had in view was an ideal site adjoining the racecourse at Awapuni, the meeting was informed. Well planted with trees, dry, and with a slope to the Awapuni lagoon, it could be made the grottiest and best showground in New ealand. It was some two miles from the city, served by the railway at Awapuni, and had good access both from Foxton Line a.nd the racecourse road.

OPTION OBTAINED. An option for one month had been obtained over the property, and Mr Eliott urged the committee to make a prompt decision. He stated that the> future of the association and the salvation of its finances were at stake. With stock buildings rapidly deteriorating, it would be only- a question of how long they could function under the present circumstances. Messrs M. A. Conway and J. A. Nash opposed the proposal, the former on account of the unsettled state of international affairs, and the latter chiefly on the ground of sentiment. Messrs J. A. Mitchell and E.' W. Barnett favoured the suggestion strongly, commenting that the association could not exist on sentiment alone, but must view its affairs as a matter of business. . After a great deal of discussion, it was finally decided to obtain further information regarding the cost of moving the small grandstand and stock buildings. This matter is to l>e considered at a later meeting of the committee.