SECTIONS TO BE LEASED

Taranaki Daily News, 2 November 1926, Page 9

SECTIONS TO BE LEASED

MOUNT ELIOT RESERVE • COUNCIL DECIDES UPON ITS FATE. MAJORITY OF SEVEN VOTES TO 2. PROPOSAL TO DEFER DEFEATED. After hanging in the balance for a considerable time while two opposed factions tilted at one another in argument and occasionally in wordy warfare, the fate of the Mount Eliot reserve opposite the New Plymouth railway station has at last been decided. The borough council resolved last night by a majority of seven votes to two to put up the sections comprising the reserve for auction as soon as the necessary arrangements are made. On the proposal to take this action the council divided as follows: For.—The Mayor (Mr. F. E. Wilson), and Crs. H. V. 8. Griffiths, A. E. Surrey, J. Brown, J. Jemison, G. A. Colson and J. Kibby. Against.—Crs. J. Lobb and W. W. Thomson. The matter was brought before the attention of the council by a notifi-cation-from the surveyor that the subdivisional plan had been approved by the department, and things were in readiness for the printing of the lithographs. RESULT OF PLEBISCITE. In outlining the results of the recent postal plebiscite conducted by a joint committee of the Tourist League and Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of ascertaining the feeling of the residents of the (own in the matter, the Mayor stated that from a roll of 4000 ratepayers 041 had voted in favour of having the area preserved as a park, and 16 had voted in favour of having the area leased for building purposes. This analysis of the voting did not take into account a number of citizens who are not ratepayers but who voted. Of the SI votes recorded against the proposal to have the area preserved, six were informal, four were from nonratepayers and five were from persons not on the ratepayers’ or any other Toll, leaving a total of 16 in favour of cutting up and leasing. A total of 736 votes was recorded in favour of reservation, but of these 60 were from persons not on any roll, 19 were from persons who did not qualify from a residential point of view, two were informal and 14 were doubtful, leaving a total of 641 valid votes in favour of reservation as a park. He imagined that the adult population of New Plymouth would be at least 6060. and though a large number of cards had been sent out by the joint committee, a great many people had declined to return them. MOTION BY CR. BROWN. To put the matter in order, Cr. Brown moved that the deputation which recently waited on the council be informed that the council could not see its way to alter its former decision to lease the sections for building purposes. He had given the matter a lot of consideration, said Cr. Brown, and he thought he was doing the right thing by moving in the direction indicated. He for one would not be dictated to, or rather told what to do, in the matter. He had had the experience onee before—over the enlargement of the tunnel. He had not been in favour of having the tunnel enlarged, but he went back on his opinion. He would not do it again, however. He thought it best in the interests of the town that the ground should be built upon. It had a bed of sandstone, and approximately £lO6O would have to be spent on it before it could be beautified. Even then its value as a park would be doubtful. He agreed with the Mayor in his remarks on the example afforded in Wellington, where a beautifying experiment in a similar relative position had proved a failure. Quite recently there had been agitation over a similar proposal with regard to Kent Terrace in Wellington. Small spaces were of no use to the town, continued Cr. Brown. New Plymouth was well served with open spaces, and justice could not be done to those parks already in existence. It would be worse with an additional area to look after. He thought the money that could be obtained by leasing the sections could best be expended in improving the streets and footpaths. TOWN WELL PROVIDED FOR. The motion was seconded by Cr. Surrey, who agreed with what the previous speaker had said to the effect that lhe town already had plenty of open spaces and that there was no money to spend on the reserve. He thought Cr. Browii had under estimated the cost of beautifying the area, which would have to be drained. He thought also that it would be many years before the council had enough money to erect municipal buildings on the site. The actual revenue obtained from the leases should, in his opinion, he divided up amongst the different parks in the town, and not expended on the streets. The Mayor: That is a matter for the council to decide. Continuing, Cr. Surrey said he thought the result of the recent plebiscite did not express the true opinion of the majority of the ratepayers. Cr. Lobb moved as an amendment that the question of making a decision be deferred until next May. There would be a new election then, he said, and he thought the matter could well be held up until then to give the people an opportunity of expressing their opinion at the poll. Many people had taken the recent plebiscite as rather a joke, and did not bother to vote. POLL NOT ALLOWED. The Mayor pointed out that the council was not permitted by law to put such an issue ae suggested by Cr. Lobb on the ballot paper. The only way to get over the difficulty was for the issue to be made a plank in the election platform of a certain ticket, but it seemed a pity that a single issue such as the one under discussion should be a point on which the whole election might turn. The amendment was seconded by Cr. ■ Thomson, who said that while he did not like to see the council lose the revenue from the land, he thought the matter , could easily stand over to give the i people an opportunity of showing what they wanted. Cr. Griffiths stated that he would support Cr. Brown's motion. About 3706

cards had been sent out at the recent plebiscite, and people had been asked to return them. The committee responsible for the plebiscite had been enthusiastic, and the newspapers had given it their support and much space. Yet out of 3700 cards sent out, only 700 had been returned by ratepayers, and he took it that a great many people thought that by ignoring the committee’s suggestion and destroying the card as he did himself, they would indicate that they were supporting the borough council in its intention. He felt the council was supported by the great majority of the ratepayers. NO MONEY TO SPEND. Secondly, to give effect to the request of the deputation meant the expenditure of a considerable sum of money. The council did not have the money, and it was time to go right ahead and get revenue. Proposals for big extensions to the water and sewerage schemes were before the council, lnd he felt that the ratepayers should not be faced with further expenditure. The existing parks with which New Plymouth was well endowed, were all languishing for want of money, and any funds available should be spent on these parks. He thought that the west side of Queen Street should be dealt with and beautified, and eeate provided on it. With regard to Cr. Lobb’s amendment, there had been for some time inquiries as to when the sections were going to be leased, and if the mattep was again shelved manjT'of the inquirers would look elsewhere for property. The council would thereby possibly lose the opportunity of leasing some of the sections. Although he had been told that many working men of the town w T ere in favour of a park, said Or. Jemison, he intended to support the resolution. The land was not being sold; it was only being leased. ’FURTHER SUPPORT FOR LEASING. Cr. Kibby also supported the resolution. The section had, he said, been an unsightly place for, many years, and the council had thoroughly discussed the question of pitting it into commission. None of the people now enthusiastic about keeping it as a park had made any attempt to beautify it. He thought the council was doing the right thing in leasing it for building. Support to the resolution was given by the Mayor, who agreed with Cr. Griffiths in all he had said with the exception of the point he made that the great majority of those who dtd not return the cards were against the proposal to reserve as a park. The speaker thought that a number of people did not answer because they did not ,bother. Nevertheless he thought the majority were in favour of leasing. He was quite genuine in saying that he appreciated the action of the active body of men who promoted the plebiscite. They performed a valuable service in an attempt to secure an expression of opinion, and in their scheme they acted very fairly. Their activity might result in more interest being taken at the next municipal election. MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS ISSUE. New Plymouth was growing and would no doubt" be a large provincial centre, but it was not likely ever to ■ be a Sydney, and he would be very surprised if his children or his children’s children lived to see New Plymouth with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants. He could not see any prospect of municipal buildings being erected as in the cities, for there was no possible chance of getting a quarter of a million pounds with which to erect them. And he thought that the present council was just as able to decide what was best to do with the section as the council of 1950 would be. He saw no reason why the area should not be used, for the purpose for which it was intended—to producg revenue for the borough. The amendment was then put and lost, only the mover and the seconder voting for it. The motion was put and carried by seven votes to two as stated. The council adopted a scale of upset rentals as suggested by the town clerk, and it was decided to have a quantity of lithographs printed in preparation for the auction of the leases.