A PUBLIC PARK.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXIX, Issue 9296, 11 March 1899, Page 4

A PUBLIC PARK.

DISCUSSION Ifc THE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

At the meeting of the Borough Council on Thursday j ; the following letter was received from Messrs Frater BroK in response to ait advertisement inviting offers of property suitable for & recreation ground for the Thames: "In rerily'to your advertisement- ioi' a piece of land-suitable for a public recreation ground, we have the honor, on-behalf of the-executors in the estate of the late Dr. James Kilgour, to ofier- ;T * v allotinents. being numbers 353, 354, 355,356. 358, 360 and 361 Rolleston street; numbers 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317 and 318 Baillie street, and numbers 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342 and 343 Mackay street, Shortland, as The : area is abolitS * threei fiye-eightha o| an fifteen-hundred ppvinds (£$00). '! ! : Tlievterins. ,are; Five hundVed pounds £500) cash; balance may remain : for' three years at. 5 per cent annum interest pay able quarterly. One great advantage of this" property for y that'of-a reicrea- ■ tion ground" is its central position, 1 reri dering it'accessible not only to those in' the vigor of youth, but also to little, children,. the . aged and the infirm."

The letter did not appear to meet with the approval of the members of the Council as significant smiles were observed when the price was read out. One of the Councillors said "How

kind I" and another "Much obliged!'* ' The Mayor (Mr. H. J. Greenslade) said he was in favor of securing a public park, as it was essential for the health and enjoyment of the people of the/district. The need for a park had become more obvious since the railway had been opened, as the number of visitors had increased, and there was no public park where they could go to spend a few hours. From the expressions he had jußl heard it was evident that some of the Councillors considered the price asked exorbitant. That objection had previously been raised in connection with the Waio-Karaka' - Flat and in other cases. He considered that the site' of•> fered was the most suitable one that; could be secured, and,. though the

price might seem high, it was quite possible that more acceptable terms V-'might be obtained.'He.: thought any obstacle of that kind could be overo come..? His own opinion waß that the land, being in the centre of the town, .on. that accojflit of -considerable '' yaluVand 'a 8 time went on' would be : come even more bo, He - mpved, "That the matter bei referred to a committee consisting of one Councillor from eaoh Ward, to visit the place and '• • , ■> '■• v ;

Cr. Radford suggested a committa? of the whole Council.

The Mayor said his, experience? had

been that with committees of the

whole Council, some of the Councillors ; ?| di(J .not- attend;-< With;regard 'to the ' i: 'mbney required, he believed thai ol> stacle could be overcome. When it was proposed to erect a new Hospital the question of funds had been brought forward as an argument against - it. It ihad been overcome in ' that case, and he saw no reason why ( with a little energy it should not-be in the case of a public park. Cr. Trembath was of opinion, that tb.e whole Council should take the matter into consideration and should visit the ground., He .was prepareijlto.

provide a recreation ground,, but not

to have to pay through the nose . /for it. • Some years, ago, when the' If TOo-Karaka Flat was proposed, and ;•• when £1250 .was asked for it, a vote of the ratepayers was taken, but the required, number did not vote, so thai theiproposal-was-not carried; • After- ' wards the land was put up for sale by auction and was bought in for £250. He then complained of the apathy shown by the Council in not endeavoring to secure it as a recreation • ground. The price asked for the land in Shortland by Mr. Frater was, in his opinion, exorbitant, He was in favor of,visiting.the place. The Mayor said he was quite prepared to; fall in- with the suggestion to refer, the matter to, a; committee; (if the whole Council. " . .. , Cr. Trembath seconaed. ■ CiV Poulgrain said he had given tile ...matter a considerable amount, of thought. ' The sketch plan forwarded by.Mr. Frater 'showed that there 'was' ■t tone .acre and'.a- half between rtwo / s streetsj then; another .street, iand then dbbiit""three-quarters of an? acre, male-

ing 3| acres. . Som&.allotments on . t MlUton. street had residences between' / /1-hemPlf,.th© Council*jurohased /this "wrould be necfeßSary tobuy-ou! ■'fiwnefs- of : .the residences, which mfeati that the Council would be, " • ■ _ - < i'Tho Mayor remarked tliat ialready made an endeavor to prevent ianything of "the kind happening. J* He, would neVer allow-the Borough tc' be' plunderedsif he could help it....As ifinqumwi. he had made IfebelieVed that one of the two houses alluded' to could be purchased for a reasonable amount. Crl Poul^aiii;Csaid : he was glad io hear it. ; Still it seemed to him that it was exorbitant to ask £50 an allot' ment for twentynine allotments, when •; "one single r - onei jtould v bp obtained;, for less. Hs thought it would be a mis nomer to apply the terms''recreation ground" to a small area such as had r( •. offered;, :It i was jpossible-toihave ' a game of football or cricket on it, but as there were several cricket and foot-

ball clubs at the Thames, it was necessaiy ' fo Becuro' a larger'space. The ofnly benefit to bo obtained by the purchase of a small property would bt that it would enable nurseß and 'children to take an airing in

Cr. Trembatb: And old ago pen sionera. (Laughter.) Cr, Poulgrain: Yes; and old age .pensioners. But to call it a recreation ground would be absurd. He'.was not against buying it for a park,, but he would endeavor to show the Council that it could do better. ; There way no need for hurry, as the land offered was not going to be snapped up at £1500.. He would move, "That appli cation be made to the Thames Har bor Board with the object of acquiring (1) by purchase at a reasonable price with .consent of the Crown; or (2) by lease, for say 66 or 99 years at a rea sonable rental an area of say twenty five acres of the reclaimed land lying between the Goods: Wharf and th< Moanatairi tip, with;the object of pro viding a central ;and suitable recreation; ground for the people of tire Thames."

>■ The Mayor: Do you intend to propose it as an amendment? Cr. Poulgrain: Well, I don't know. The Mayor: We can't have two motions .before the at the same time.' ■ >

Cr. Poulgrain: Then I will move it as an amendment. Continuing, Cr. Poulgrain said he had been; looking at the place, which seemed to him to offer more advantages than the site offered by Mr. Frater. It should not be difficult to make satisfactory arrangements with the Harbor Board, as that body and the Borough Council worked together for the best interests of the residents. He thought it would be most advisable to secure this property either as a gift or on a lease at a low rental, and then to improve it by planting trees, etc.. His idea was to obtain ,an area of lane worthy of being called' a recreatio: ground.

The-Mayor was rather surprised ai Cr. Poulgrain's remarks with, refer-' ence to the size of the land offered by Mr.' Frater. -There were 3f acres, and then it must ■be remembered that Baillie street, which was 66 feet wide, would be available for its whole length. Cr, Trembath: We must get the consent of the ratepayers before we can . close the street.

The Mayor said there was no intention to close the street. He was opposed to spendixig any money on the spot mentioned by Cr. Poulgrain. As long as mining . was carried on .at would be impossible to prevent the debris from being put into the creeks and coming down on to the foreshore on the ocoasion of every "fresh." His sole desire was«to do th'e best he could in the interests of the whole' community, and he -was firmly convinced of the necessity for having a place .of the description offered. Whenever this matter had been brought up ob stacles had' invariably been placed in the way. He had no objection to ap : preaching the Harbor Board, but!it must be remembered that a portion of the land was in occupation, and another portion was -under offer to Mr. Climo. •. ... Cr. Poulgrain: I don't go much upon that. Cr. Davey: Nor I. ' i The Mayor said his opinion was that the place was unsuitable, He believed he could show a scheme by which £200 could be easily raised towards the cost of the purchase inoney, as he was of opinion that the public gene•rallyiand those- interested in athletics would give the proposal their heartiest support. He was determined to do his best to secure the, property, and he believed the publii would be thoroughly in favor of it.

Cr. Poulgrain: If you are deter'tofget.the property, .willy-nilly thfere is"-flo need to' say anything further. ; \

The Mayor said the Council had invited offers of properties, and only one had been sent in. It seemed to hi'u that obstacles were merely being thrown in the way of securing a suitable park for the people; as if Cr. Poulgrain really had the foreshore in view, why did lie not bring the matter. forward when,the proposal was previously'before the Council and before it'.was decided to advertise for offers of suitable sites? In his (tho Mayor's)'opinion it was afdisgrace that a'.town of'Buch-size.and importance a* itheiThames did .not possess'a'park or was time that they removed the stigma that rested-.upon the Mas public men. : As 'he had) already 'said,' he. was. determined to. secure a public park for the Thames,, and he trusted that Councillors would-give the proposal their ■assistance;, and co-operate'in bringing tne matter to a successful issue.

Afters some Further discussion tlw motion" was 'put and carried, the amendment moved by Cr. Poulgrain lapsing, as there was no seconder. 1 '