SECTION NEAR STATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 September 1926, Page 11

SECTION NEAR STATION.

PROPOSAL TO SUB DIVIDE. BOROUGH COUNCIL’S OPINION. LEASE UNANIMOUSLY FAVOURED. The fate of the present vacant section opposite the New Plymouth railway station, discussion on which has recently occupied a prominent position in the debates at the meetings of various public bodies, was briefly considered at a meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council last night. No resolution was passed nor definite, decision arrived at, but the trend of opinion evidenced in the remarks of the Mayor and several councillors was decidedly in favour of a prosecution of the council's present plan—namely, to have the sections comprising the area offered for lease as building sites. Not one councillor supported the proposal to have the area set aside as a park. The matter was brought up by receipt of a copy of a resolution passed at a recent meeting of the Taranaki Employers’ Association; “That this executive add its support to the representations which are being made with a view to preserving the reserve opposite the railway station as an open space for the use of citizens.” “I have been asked several times to make a statement on 4lie question,” said the Mayor (Mr. F. E. Wilson), “but I have always refused, saying that I would do so only at the council table. Now we are here I feel as though there is little I can say, for you know almost as much about the matter as I do." It was quite .sufficient to say that the reserve was vested in the Borough Council as an endowment for the improvement and betterment of the borough of New Plymouth, he continued. In a passing reference to the terms under which the property was exchanged for the once borough property in King Street, and the interpretation of the conditions under which the original property was held, he expressed the opinion that it was intended that the land should further advance the prosperity of the town by means of the revenue obtained from it. NO SURPRISE TO RATEPAYERS. The proposal to cut up the section and lease it had been before the people for years, and would have been carried into effect before had not the matter been held up bv long negotiations with the Harbour 'Board over Chilman (now Rangi) Street. Frequent reference to proposal bad been publicly made, and for some weeks advertisements indicating what the council intended were running through the papers. To say that the matter had been sprung on the ratepayers was contrary to fact. In the public discussions recently, reference had been made to a townplanning scheme, said Mr. Wilson. Personally he thought that town planning was to a large extent only a name. All over the country, in fact, protests were being made against the Town-Planning Bill. One gentleman had said that it was a crying shame and against the principles of town planning to have the section cut up and leased, but in Mr. Wilson’s opinion town planning consisted primarily of division of a town int i three separate districts for commercial, manufacturing and residential purposes He took it that the residential part was the part that needed beautifying, not the commercial or manufacturing parts in the centre of the-town. As to the possibilities of making a, success of a park in the locality under •discussion, he need only refer people io the Thorndon Esplanade in Wellington, which was in a very similar position. He defied anyone to find a more derelict looking place throughout the length and breadth of the land. Trees struggled for growth under the weight of the soot covering them, so that people had deserted the place altogether. DECISION WITH THE MAJORITY. The council, however, was only the trustees of the ratepayers, and if the majority of the ratepayers signified that they wished to keep the section as a reserve the council would meet their wishes. It was a strange thing that no protest had been made about the reservation of the Harbour Board leases, hut only about the Borough Council’s leases. The Harbour Board, in all its. transaetidne, had exacted full payment, regarding itself as the trustee of the people’s property. Personally he could not agree that at present there was any marked expression of disapproval of the council's action. He was satisfied that there was a silent vote strongly in favour of making the property revenue producing in the manner proposed. Cr. Thomson: Can you give us any idea what the section has cost us so far? The Mayor: No, I cannot do that. Cr. Brown endorsed what the Mayo.' had said. He quite agreed with him in his opinion of Thorndon Esplanade, and if made into a park the site opposite the station would be an open place in the town for “dead-beats” to frequent. Th? matter had been on the go for six years, ami if the area was not leased it would be another five years at least before anything was done to improve it. The council had no money with which to do anything. RATE NEEDED FOR IMPROVEMENTS Cr. Kibby: What about the money from the circuses ? The Mayor observed that the people might as well know that they would liave to be rated before any money could be obtained for improvements to be carried out. Cr. Thomson: The section has eight chains, of frontage and would yield in revenue something between £750 and £lOOO a year. An increase in income of £lOOO a year would be a big thing for the council. Cr. Jemison said he thought that Now Plymouth was well served with parks as it was. He felt that the brewery was the worst eyesore anyway and should be the first thing removed. The Mayor pointed out that the council had already in recent times added two extra pieces of hind as reserves, tie. Huatoki Reserve and the area at the Henui bridge. To make the section a beauty spot would entail a. great deal of expense and labour. To acquire the section cost the council its last rentjiroducing land in the middle of the town. It was acquired in pieces, th - portion on which the cenotaph now stands having been acquired from the Harbour Board in exchange for another site and a substantial sum as well. Certainly the exchange had not been referred to the ratepayers, and the proposal to effect it was only carried iti the council by a small majority,

Cr. Brown: The question is, how long.

are we going to hold on to it while the people are considering the matter! The council was in touch with the majority of the ratepayers, said the Mayor, and was au fait with public opinion in general. Personally he felt that the great majority of people were in support of the council. He felt they should go on with their present project, for although the plans were ready (a copy was produced at tho meeting) it would be some time before the leases were put up for sale.