THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE Registered for transmission thr 'ieb the Post «<■ a Newgpaper THURSDAY AUGUST _ Can Weaver's Be Saved For Posterity ?

Northern Advocate, 28 August 1947, Page 6

THE NORTHERN ADVOCATE Registered for transmission thr 'ieb the Post «<■ a Newgpaper THURSDAY AUGUST _ Can Weaver's Be Saved For Posterity ?

Discussion at a general meeting of the Whangarei branch of the RSA on Thursday evening should serve still further to arouse public interest in the fate of the Weaver Estate in Rust Lane.

The association decided that, owing to lack of sufficient information, it had no recommendation to make as to the use to which this one remaining open space in the southern portion of the town should be put.

This decision is understandable, but it strengthens the widely held view that ihe people of Whangarei are entitled to much more information than the borough authorities have made available to them.

One thing is beyond dispute: if the Weaver property is not secured for the community, the large population which will one day—and that day not far distant —inhabit the southern portion of the town will be robbed of what should be regarded as a birthright: an open space available for recreational and sports purposes.

The Borough Council is very rightly taking steps to provide such an amenity at Kensington Park.

This action is essential to the wellbeing of the large and growing population in the northern portion of the town.

It is incomprehensible that the council should evince so little interest and such lack of foresight in connection with the only area which remains available in the southern zone for conversion to the purposes contemplated for Kensington Park. The only excuse offered by the Mayor and borough councillors is that the estate is required for the

erection of some 40 state houses, and that jf the land is taken for recreational purposes housing will be held up for from nine to twelve months. This contention is not soundly based, for according to an RSA

speaker whose professional standing warrants respect for his opinion, there are in the town a number of available sections upon which house construction could be carried out much more quickly than on the Weaver Estate, which will require extensive roading and sewerage befoz-e house-building can begin. The State Housing Department, and its executive officei’s, who have evinced greater interest in the future of Whangarei than the town’s leaders have shown, have expressed willingness to safeguard the Weaver Estate in order that it may become public property, but the Borough Council, for reasons which have not carried public, conviction, has peremptorily refused to take the pi-offei’ed helping hand. The Borough Council’s plea that the need for housing demands the sacrifice of w’hat would be of inestimable value as an open space in the yeai's to come calls for more justification than has been forthcoming.

There will exist a hope that the efforts of enterprising and far-seeing leaders of progressive organisations in the town will receive a reply in the affirmative to their query whether the Housing Department’s offer to relinquish the Weaver property is still open. If this should happen, the people of Whangarei should see to it that a contemplated disservice to posterity is prevented.