BELLEVUE GARDENS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 6042, 29 October 1906, Page 6

BELLEVUE GARDENS

THE SHADOW OF THE BUILDER. GOVERNMENT ASKED TO PROTECT THE AX. Tho position of the Btllovuo Gardens at '■ Lower Hurt has become an urgent one. Interviewed by a “Times” reporter, the. Mayor, of Lower Hutt (Air T. W. AlcDonald) said it had been stated for a long time that the gardens wore likely to bo cut up for build--ing -purposes, and lie had been approached by loading residents to taka action to prevent same. At that lime ho had declined to take- action) believing that tho reports were merely talk, and as no plans had been lodged at tho Lower Hutt Borough Council's offices for approval and, permit to subdivide tho land) ho thought tho matter premature. Since then, however, .subdivisions! plans had been, lodged with tho Council, and tho-mat-ter had now become one of .urgency. Either tho Council must approve tho plan when all conditions had boon complied with, and must issue a permit for tho laying out of tho streets, or tho Council must take stops to' prevent the subdivision of .tho land. j Tho Mayor-is of opinion that it would ba a calamity to tho colony to have these gardens subdivided, and buildings ■' erected thereon, and particularly would it bo a disaster to tho Welling, ton provincial district. It is only too well-known that gardens of are very rare, and it would bo suicidal, to allow those to bo destroyed. LOSS TO RAILWAYS AND PUBLIC. . The Bcllcvuo Gordons arc, a very great attraction to the citizens of Wellington, and to visitors from other parts of tho colony, or from oversea. - There is scarcely a function' of any importance in tho shape of entertaining conforonoos or delegates to similar bodies, in connection with which these! gardens aro not made usoiof. From tho railway revenue standpoint, - -..Mr. McDonald adds, the gardens are again invaluable. One has only, to watch tho trains coming into tho Hutt from Wellington, and it will bo at once scon that the bulk of tho people make straight .for Bellevue, having heard bo much about that - spot i and its ' beauty. In this way a considerable revenue'.-is brought to the Railway Department, and. were those gardens allowed to; be destroyed, tho traffic of that section of tho railway lino would bo reduced very largely, From a tourist and health resorts point of view, they aro one of the most charming places in New Zealand, and are made much use of in that direction, and tho Mayor believes are specially advertised as one of the chief attractions. ", .: . ' x. DIFFICULTY OF REPLACING.

It has taken between twenty-five and thirty years to bring tho gardens to their present state of "perfection, which proves conclusively the practical impossibility of ’ getting a .suitablesub-, retitutc for them for at least that length of time, if even anyone can bo found sufficiently enterprising or pub-, lio-siiirit-ed —which tho Mayor ; very much doubts- —to take tho matter up. Besides this, there is no other spot in this beautiful suburb that would ’ hw suitable for tho purpose, seeing that almost ail the land within reasonable distance from the sbttion. has been subdivided for the purpose of sale; ’and there is no other suburb of Wellington so admirably. fitted for gardens . ofthis kind, on account of absence of flat land and Suitable soil. A STRING DBPDTATION. '' In the face of these facts the Mayor, believing it to- bo his bounden . duly as head of the municipality, has determined to do hira best to conserve this district and to tho colony; and in this 'disrict and to tho colony; find in, .order to" do this ho has scoured the support of tho most influential deputation it is possible to get, for the purpose of waiting- on tho Premier and asking the Government to step in-and/ take what action they deem necessary to prevent 'the destruction of this public beauty-spot in tho: -garden _suburb of Wellington. Many members of Parliament, 'tho Mayor of Wellington, all the Mayors of Suburban boroughs yet ’commuiiiotted with, and a largo , numberof influential people of tho Lower Hutfc and surrounding districts, have signified their consent and pleasure to coojierate ■with the Mayor in his endeavour to get tho Government tostep into the . breach. Tho member of Parliament for the district, Mr Wilford, is particularly energetic in tho matter, and is determined to leave no stono unturned to bring about the desired 1 end. -! , PRICE AND VALUES COMPARED.

Tho' price asked for the Bellevue Gardens, £17,000. might at first, sight appear to bo a larger one." But on going- into the matter, '. says Mr Me*, .Donald, it will readily bo seen 'that such is not the case. For already, within this borough, a block of twenty? six acres of bare land, without a stick on it, had changed hands at £IOOO per acre; and bare land adjoining tho Bellevue Gardens cannot be purchased, under that figure, and some of it, hounderstands, has already changed hands at about that, price. - As there are about sixteen acres in Bellevue, the land alone is almost worth the mo-noy asked for tho whole concern, while’ there has also to bo taken into consideration tho value of the gardens,, which is considerable:, and in addition to that tho building, which contains; something- like forty rooms—and to which additions have been made during tho last four years or so at a. cost of something like £4OOO to £6OOO is / included in the price, along with the whole furniture and stock of the hotel as a going concern. At a very low estimate, the house and furniture and the goodwill of the license are worth £,5000.

Tho deputationto the Premier- will take place as soon as the Premier can fix a lime for it. ,i

The Wellington Trust Loan and Investment Company, Ltd.,' which have since the late iiro been occupying office* lent by Messrs Bell, Gully, Bell and Myers, the company’s solicitors, in their; bmldinge, Peathereton street, removed last Saturday afternoon to temporary offices in the ''Commercial Chambers,' 1 ' No. 3, Hunter street,' where busineaa will bo carried on until new offices are erected on the site of the late premises owned by the company in Lambton quay rc-building of which is in contempla-’ tion. ■ ' Applications for examination in plumb, ing close next Saturday'with the registrar of the Wellington Technical School. Mr Pritchard, grocer, Courtenay place, has an advertisement in another column. Mr James Smith and Sons, advertise ladies’ neckwear. The City Council notifies that premises in Koseneath may be connected with tho city water mains. ■ Several new advertisements are in sorted in another column by To Arc House.

; Papcrhangings, pictures, stained glasc windows, etc., are advertised by Mr £, Martin, Manners street.