Annual Meeting of Chamber of Commerce

Northland Age, Volume XVI, Issue 78, 25 July 1947, Page 1

Annual Meeting of Chamber of Commerce

Thirteen members attended the t third annual meeting of the Kaitaia i Chamber of Commerce which was held in the Kaitaia Library Rooms j on Wednesday night and presided ever by the President for 1946-47, Mr. Rhys Williams. Apologies were accepted from several prominent members who were unable to be pres- ! tut. . i The statement of accounts for the : financial year ending May 31st, 1947, presented by the secretary, Mr. L. G. Thompson, revealed an increase in the credit balance of nearly £lO over that at the end of May, 1946. In reporting on the work of the Chamber during' the past year, the ! President, Mr. Rhys Williams, statec ' that the objective of the body, which ' had gained recognition as an active j organisation in the district, was “everything for both town and country,” an ideal to which the Chamber j bad endeavoured to adhere for the common good. After the adoption of the Presi- I dent’s report, t*i4 Chamber placed on 1 record its appreciation of the results which had been achieved by the Presi- i dent. Secretary and Executive. In I elaborating on this motion, Mr. E. R. | Bird made particular mention of their efforts towards the realisation I of the Northland’s dream of a tar- j sealed main highway. “The Chamber’s slogan has .been ‘Better Roads \ for the North,”’ said Mr. Bird, “and ! it is not the fault of the executive j" that its endeavours have not reached fruition.” Election of # Committee Mr. Drummond:, nominated Mr. ' Rhys Williams for re-election to j ' Presidency, and as no further nomina- I tions were received, Mr. Williams was reinstated. He accepted the honour accorded him, amid hearty applause. ' Other officers elected, all unopposed, are as follows : Vice-President—Mr. Hedditch; Farmers Messrs. F. A. Holder and E. R. Bird ; Businessmen—Messrs. F. Weber and H. Timbers ; Others— Messrs. Wilcox and A. Maylin Theed. Mr. W. H. Atkins was appointed hon- j crary auditor. J i General Business f After fixing the membership sub- i scription for 1947-48 at 10/6 per < member, the same as for last year, general business was opened by the, , President who asked the Secretary to £ give a resume of the Northland Air ) Service since its inauguration. At the ] conclusion of Mr. Thompson’s address several members expressed their in- , dividual appreciation of the service j and voted it an unqualified success , and asset to the North. Finalising a discussion on broad- ( casting, particularly the proposed es- ; tablishment of a North Auckland station at Whangarei and auxiliary stations at Kaikohe and Kaitaia, instruc- ' tions were given the Secretary to approach the Prime Minister solicit- - ing his support of the request to have the Invercargill Ranfurly Shield 1 match commentary re-broadcast per j medium of a major Wellington sta- 1 tion. It was the Chamber’s opinion that, in making this request, it was acting on behalf of the whole of the ] Northland population, whose interest in the progress of the match to be played in the far South on August j 9th is beyond question. In reporting on the work to be car- , ried out and now under way on the main Whangarei-Kaitaia highway as provided for in the Ten Year plan, Mr. A. Maylin Theed presented the facts as received by the Mangonui County Council at its monthly meeting earlier in the day, stressing the point t.oat it was not possible to have a satisfactorily sealed Highway com- | pleted in under five years. Correspondence from the Bay of i Island Electric Power Board dealing ( with the proposed increase in tariff , to supplement the reduced income t caused by power shortages, was the subject of lengthy discussion which culminated in a resolution which had the support of only part of the com- ' pany. The Secretary was instructed , to write to the Power Board author- .' ity, pretesting against the proposed ( increase and to the Price Investigation Tribunal, requesting postponement of approval of the increase ap- * plied for until such time as the Cham- 1 ber had had the whole position thor- * oughly investigated. It is believed that it is the Chamber’s intention to sug'gest applying for relief from the larger Metropolitan Boards whose , finances are extremely stable.

Before the meeting was closed at 11 p.m. the President reminded members of the Annual Conference of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of the Northland which is to be held this year in Kaitaia, and, as President of the Association, he invited all members to attend.