THE CITY ABATTOIRS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9126, 7 August 1888, Page 6

THE CITY ABATTOIRS.

ANOTHER PETITION. At the ordinary meeting of the Newton Borough Council yesterday evening, Mr. Brown presented the following petition, which was signed by about 250 people :— Gentlemen,—We. the undersigned residents and property-holders, humbly petition vour Council to use the powers vested in you by the Public Health Act or otherwise to remove from the borough the very great nuisance caused by the slaughtering of cattle in the borough, "and to refuse, to grant any licenses for such purposes. Your petitioners believe that sickness and death have been spread through the district by the poisonous gases from the slaughterhouses during the past summer, and they are apprehensive of the deadly fumes from these sources during the coming summer. Mr. Brows moved, " That for the present the question of slaughterhouses be left in abeyance, and that during the Parliamentary recess steps be taken to obtain power to control the city abattoirs in the game manner as we control the private slaughterhouses." Mr. Brown thought that vestx-d interests should be respected in dealing with the abattoir question. Mr. Laing moved an amendment, " That on condition that the City Council remove the city abattoirs from Newton Berough, the Newton Borough Council will refuse to renew or grant any further licenses for slaughtering purposes in the district." After some discussion, the Mayor said that the City Abattoirs were the great bugbear of the district. The roads of the borough were used in the carting of meat from the slaughterhouses, and no compensation was given for the nuisance which was caused. Instead of looking after vested interests for the first point, they should consider the health of the people, and so Son« as the City Abattoirs remained where they were, the district would never go ahead. A small body like the Newton Borough Council- would have no influence with the City Council if they asked Parliament to grant them powers to regulate the City Abattoirs. Mr. Brown thought the members of the House would see the matter in a fair light, and give the Council relief in the matter, if they did not get the power to collect fees they might secure the power of coercive inspection. The petitioners asked them to remove the abattoirs by next summer, but in order to do this they would have to refuse licenses in January next. Mr. Laing pointed out that the City Council had the power to deal with the question, and from what he had read in the papers he had gleaned that a numher of the members of the Council were in favour of removing the abattoirs if the Borough Council refused the licenses, but he did not wish that they should inflict hardship in the matter. | Mr. F. S. Jones, one of a deputation 1 present, said that the signatures to the petition were all genuine. The district had been thrown back because for 20 years it had been cursed with nuisances such as had existed in no other district. Some councillors had spoken of vested interests, but what about the rights of property owners, and the depreciation of property ? The city abattoirs were in the centre of the district, and in a position unsuited for slaughtering purposes. He did not wish that"any hardship should be inflicted upon property owners, but he entreated the Council to consider the feelings of those who were compelled to live day and night in the smells arising from the abattoirs. Mr. R. Hellaby, of the firm of R. and W. Hellaby, also addressed the Council. He said that firm were in a position to carry on their business without any nuisance whatever, and he thought the Council ought to give them a fair trial, and if they could work without creating a nuisance, let them stay ; if they could not, they were prepared to leave, upon fair notice being given. He asked whether the petition bore the names of any persons living near Messrs. Hellaby's slaughterhouse ? Mr. Ccrrie said it did not. The Mayor said that none of the concillors had a set" upon Messrs. Hellaby's slaughterhouses; they wished to remove the City Abattoirs. Mr. Brown's motion was carried. Mr. Brown subsequently moved, " That it be an instruction to the Sanitary Inspector to report at each meeting of the Council the state of the slaughterhouses." Mr. Boyd seconded the motion, which was agreed to. _

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