JEWISH CEMETERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19731, 2 September 1927, Page 14

JEWISH CEMETERY.

SYMONDS STREET RESERVE. TITLE TRANSFER SOUGHT. REQUEST TO CITY COUNCIL. The rights of the Jewish community to an area of 20 perches on the cemetery property adjoining the public reserve at the corner of Symonds Street and Karangahape Road were discussed from moral and legal aspects by the City Council last evening without finality. The Parks Committee recommended approval of the move for the necessary legislation provided the Hebrew people settled any costs involved h the transfer and used the site for a communal memorial hall. Miss E. Melville said the council had no legal power to donate a civic property for the' use of a small section of the citizens. It was likely the site would be worth from £14,000 to £15,000 in the future. The Mayor, Mr. G. Baiklon, said the council was asked only to give its sanction an application for the necessary authority. Mr. A. J. Entrican said the council would be faced with a problem if other denominations wished to extend their cemeteries. Mr. W. H. Murray said the Hebrew denomination had received a title to the property in 1843 It had been vested in the City Council by the Cemeteries Act, 1908. The Jewish people had always displayed broad civic spirit concerning the reserve. The town clerk, Mr. J. S. Brigham, said the council had rejected the previous requests in 1924 and 1926. The Bethlehem Trust had raised the point that its title to the property was still valid, but it was found that although the Cemeteries Act had vested the site in the council, the change of the title had not been effected. This formality had since been settled. Mr. L: A. Eady said the council's moral obligations outweighed its legal responsibilities. The Hebrew community had possessed the properly from 1843 until 1908. Air. M. J. Bennett took the same view. Mr. G. Knight said the matter should not be settled on a basis of sympathy. The reserve could be used only for a cemetery and not for the erection of a memorial. Mr. S. I. Crookes said he had been under the impression the property had been a generous gift from the Hebrew citizens. It now appeared the land had been vested in the council in the ordinary way. He thought the committee should reconsider the application with reference to the fuller facts. An amendment that the question should be referred back to the Parks Committee was carried.