THE ORAKEI ESTATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14807, 10 October 1911, Page 7

THE ORAKEI ESTATE.

SIR JOHN FIPLAY'S OPINION. A CHANCE TOO GOOD TO MISS. The Orakei Estate was ' visited by. Sir John Findlay on Sunday, and in the course of his speech last night he referred to,the proposal to purchase it for a model suburb of Auckland. " I would suggest to you," he said, "that if you can get Parliament to permit your City/Council in proper circumstances to acquire that large: area to provide for future expansion of the city you should wisely take that step. That would certainly be better than to allow it to fall into the hands of speculators, who might bleed the city when its needs are greater. It is not my duty to preach on your civic conditions, but you have 8 chance to enable Auckland to be the most beautiful and well laid-out'city in Australasia." If that step were taken in time, he added, much would be done to increase the present tendency to make Auckland the mecca .of " Southerners, and to contribute to the prosperity of the city by attracting desirable people and purses to it. . At the end of the meeting the Minister was asked whether, it would not be a shortsighted: policy. to purchase the Orakei Block, and thus send up the price of a Churchowned land adjoining it, and would it not be better to buy that also. In reply, he said, that if ,it were necessary lor the development of the .city the Church.property should be exposed to tho same right of purchase as the Orakei Block. - ,