THE PUBLIC ABATTOIRS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2206, 11 June 1896, Page 7

THE PUBLIC ABATTOIRS.

A deputation representing the Dunedin City Council and stock agents and butchers waited upon the Taieri County Council during its ordinary meeting held at Mosgiel on Friday afternoon, to request that permission be granted for the erection of public abattoirs upon part of sections 35, 36, 37, and/ 38, block V, Lower K&ikorai district. The members of the City Council present were Crs Chisholm, Daw■son, Solomon, Gore, Hardy, and Swan, and Mr W. B. Taylor (town clerk). Amongst tbe stock agents present were Messrs Donald Reid sen., James Smith jun., A. Todd, J. A. Johnston, and C. Morris, while there were about a dozen butchers in attendance. Cr Solomon said that the City Council desired to approach the Taieri County Council in regard to this question uuder entirely altered circumstances. Zo the first pte» &» 4ssota-

tion had to apologise for the absence of the mayor (Mr Wales), who, the council would regret to hear, was still confined to his bed, aud was utterly unable to attend. Since the matter had come before tho Taieri County Council thß City Council had made arrangements tor the erection of abattoirs on what they called Shand's estate. The Chairman : At Fairfield ? C? Solomon : Yes. Arrangements were made for tbe purchase of the land, subject to ctrtain conditions. Tie land was surwyed, and the engineer of the Railway department inspected the plase with a view to having a siding constructed. At this stage the cDuncil were waited upon by a very large deputation, comprising stock and station agents and butchery, urging them to make an application to tfce Taieri Couucil for permission to build on what they would call the saleyards site. Thß council also received a petition from the gentlemen referred to setting forth the adv&nsges possessed by the latter site compared witH the former. Having read the petition, Oe Solomon wenfc on to Bay that the position was this : The City Council f(-lt it was their duty <o do what they could to ineob the interests and convenieoces of these genfclemeu, and of fche eifc ; zeus of Dunedin, and of the residents of the Taieri plains ; therefore they felt it incumbent on them to ask the Taieri Council to grant the necessary perini3I sion to enable the abafcto'r* to be erected ou the old site. The City Couucil had given the matter their most earnes!; consideration, aud bad done their best to get another suitable site, bub without success. They could find no site that would m°efc the requiiements ■ of the case except the cite originally selected. Having, therefore, considered all these circumstances, the co-moil requested the Taieri Council fco give their assent to this latter site : employed for the purpose. ■ Or Gothe stated that the City Couucil had j done their best to meet the view* of the Taieri Council. They advertised for other sites when I permission for the old site was refused. They j received 20 offers, bufc of thesa only three came I within the act aa being without half a mile of the boundary of the borough. They had selected one that appeared to be the most suitable— namely, Shacd's site, — but a great objection ! to that was entertained by butchers aud others lin the trade. A deputation of 38 waited upon the council, and in deference to their wrshea (the j City Council) now made this application. The i Taieri Council was further respectfully requested 1 to treat this application as an entirely new | application. The objections to the Shand's site J were numerous. In the first place a sidiog was nece3s»ry there, and the grade at which it would have to be built would render j ite working dangerous. The cosb of its con- ! sfcruction would maan to the corporation an j additional expense of £BCO, supposing the Railway depai fcm snfc granted it. Then, as to the water. There might be an abundance of water, but ib would cost £300 afc the least to provide a i pumping planb. Then, there was considerably more excavation required at this site compared with the old site, so that to build the abattoirs there wonld entail £1400 or £1500 of additional expeuse, besides the daily expense of keepiug i the machinery going and employing horses ou ths siding. Under thece circumsoances, the amount borrowed by the council to erect the abattoirs would be insufficient;, and ifc would menu that they would have to go back to the citizens for an increased amouub. Cr Hardy stated that there was no doubt that if the abattoirs were built on Shand's site the expeuse to work them would be much greater than would ba the case in regard to the other site. It would be a serious matter to the bntchers, and through them to the consumers if the meat were to ba carried an additional mile and a-half. One point which he wished to emphasise was that if the abattoirs were ended on the old cite they could connect with the"" reservoir, aad thus an, ample supply of fresh waber would be obtainable. The whole question was a serious one, and ifc affected 50,000 people— not for one year only, but for all time to come. Cc Chisholm stated tbat while the council had made preliminary arrangements for the erection of the abattoirs on Shand'a Bite, it was not to ba supposed that the majority of the council wereot opinion that ifc was the mere desirable property of the two, bufc, on fcha contrary, the opinion prevailed that the original site was the site upon Which the abattoirs should ba erec bed. Cr Dawson endorsed the opinions already exxirtsaed. So far as his judgment weat, there was no other site wbieh approached the old sita in poiufc of convenience and suitableness for the erection of abattoirs. Cr Swan stated that the additional expense that would ba entailed if the abatboirs were erected on Shand's site would be felt by the consumers. Cr Todd remarked that ifc was proposed to connect the abattoir, if erected on the old site, with tho reservoir. He asked if ifc were not a fact that the water supply had not on pssfc occasions been reduced to one-half in the city? Cr Haudy replied that on one occasion that might have been the case,- but the supply could be increased by cutting off fche water for manufacturing purposes, &a. Cr Solomon said that during 11 months out of 12 fche cifcy had more m.fcer than they c^uld use. Cr Swan : The supply was short only on the high l&vels. Cr Samson : If permission were granted, where are you going to run away your water. Cr Solomon replied that;/ fche arrangements made in reference to drainage were that nothing but filtered water should flow from the abattoirs. Mr Smith, butcher, of South Dunedin, spoke on behalf of fche butchers, who would have been Keprs^ented by greater numberaon that occasioa

wera ifc nofc that the meeting, being held on a Friday, made ifc very inconvenient for them to attend. With regard to the respective merits of the two sites under consideration, the butchers httd a strong objection to the Shand's «ite on account of its distance from - town, and also on account of its unsuitability from a sanitary point of view. Taey did not think that the sanitary condition of the site made it afc all suitable as a site for abattoirs, and in this respect they thought fche saloyardff site infinitely preferable. Ib had been said that the butchers held the key of the situation, and he believed they did, for he had no hesitation in saying that if Shand's site were selected they would nofc pafcrqniae the abattoirs afe aIL, This they could do, because if their meat were inspected by a properly qualified inspector they would fulfil ths ' requirements of the law. He hoped, therefore, for the benefit of all, the Taieri County Council would grant the request of fche Cifcy Cormeil. He had been one who had signed against No. 1 site because he thought it was not an ideal | site, but when ib was found that tbe abattoirs were being forced upon them, they recognised j | that they must have the best site, and Np. 2 ' site was certainly not the besfc. Some bf fche council might think that if they reversed their decision oa this matter the public might he seized with the idea that they were wanting in backbone. This, however, was an erroneous idea, for if a man conscientiously believed that he was pursuing a wroug course be Bhould retracfflhisstep3; thereby he would gain the respect and esteem of all right-minded pardon?. The butchers themselves had always advocated the establishment of public abattoirs, and an they were customers of nanny farmers in the Taieri district, the council should give their request consideration. Mr Reid said that it was nob for the Taipri Council to consider whether fche abafcboirs would have an efficient water supply ; thab was a matter for the body erecting the abattoirs. The fact that such a represent*tivo deputation that day waifcfd upon the council proved the urgent necessity of the abattoirs. The City Council, the butchers, and the people of Dunedin generally were interested. He himself aB a citizen was interested, and ss a ratepayer of fche Taieri County he was interested. If the abattoirs were erected on No. 2 site it would stand there as a monument of foolish expenditure, and thit was nob a desirable thing for the Taieri County Council. He trusted that they would forget the whole of the past, and le!> them consider &s practical men where was the besfc site for these abattoirs, especially as the application was now being made under entirely new circnmslaneos. Mr Johnston endorsed wh^fc had been s*id by Mr B- id and Mr SmUh. The Chairmaw: Where are you going to paddock your cattle ? Mr Johnston : Where there is one paddock in No. 2 site, there are 10 in No. 1 site. There will be no difficulty about paddockiug the cattle. Thß deputation then resumed their seats. The Chairman said thafc tha council h»d granted the application for No. 2 «ite, but thafc would nob prevent their granting No., 1 site. Cr Chisholm thought it would be inadvisable for the council to try aud settle the matter lighfc off, and he would move—" Thab having heard the views of the deputation, the council agree to meet the deputation in conference afc another date with a view to an amicable settlement." There were several questicni he would like to ask, and he had no doubt thtvfc there were other councillors in fche sama position. I Cr Harbison seconded the motion. Cr Nichol thought the matter could ba settled right away. They were ,a]l fully conversant with the merit* of the respective sitea. Cr Samson supposed he was looked upon as tha originator of all this hubbub, and probably he would ba expected to make some ; remarks on the subject. He was quite prepared to fall in wivh Cr Chisholm's. suggestion that the council and the deputation should meet and have a " confab." He thought, however, that the Ciby Council were themselves to blame for the position in which they found themselves. They had bungled the matter themselves ; bufc there was no question that No. 1 site could not be got. So far as he was concerned, if the couucil had raad3 a mistake in selecting No. 2 site, he had no objection to their having a shot afc No. 3 site ; bub he would ' never give his vote in favour of their getting j No. 1 site. In fche maantime he agreed with fche suggestion as to a conference. ! Cr Snow asked what good could be gained by this conference. They had threshed this matter out from end to end, and they could j give their vote now jast as well as they could after a conference. He was prepared to give his vote then. Cr Oughton said that the community he represented believed that they would be inconvenienced by the abattoirs being erected on No. 1 site. He agreed, however, to the conference 1 being held, and in fche meantime he wonld consult the residents in his district;, and if he found the feeling was in favour of the site in question bsing selected, he would bo prepared to give his vote in fchafc direction. The motiqn was then carried, and the d-»te for the conference was fixed for Jaly 2, at 11 \ &.m, 4 ia Dunedin.