ROAD THROUGH HAGLEY PARK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 150, 4 November 1868, Page 3

ROAD THROUGH HAGLEY PARK.

TO THK EDITOR OF THE STAB. Sir, — It is really surprising to read the letters from your various correspondents on this subject, and to find how little they seem to understand the question. "Bridge" talks of the justice to be done by tbe City Council, and the injustice done to the district in whi. h he lives. " Tug " speaks of the question as one resting with the ratepayer* of the city, and so on. I place them on the horns of a dilemma; either tbeir arguments are the result of ignorance, or they are seeking to mislead the public. Why Sir, what have the ratepayers to do with the matter at all ? They may or they may not object to a bridge across t'<e Avon at Aim»gh street as a work of necessity, ido ao simply as one of cost and expediency, not as affecting the road question at all. If these sapient correspondents of yours will think a little more, tbey will at last probably come to the conclusion that the park is in the care of the Superintendent and Provincial Government. '1 he Provincial Council alone is the body who

will have to vote the money for the construction of the road, and who will therefore have to approve or veto the forming of any cart road through the park. One would surpose that because these wealthy would-be Cosmopolitans are prepared to defray the cost of a bridge, they are therefore to drive a road where th«y please; but do they not know that Hagley Park is a park belonging not to Christchurcb alone, but to the people of Canterbury, bought with their money, and set apart for ever for the health and recreation of those who frequent the city ? Because ons or two of these disinterested citizens have f-iiled to make the mark- 1 place the centre of the commerc - of the city, and failed because in dayn gone by they were too indolent and too parsimonious to exert themselves in a proper manner to secure to the locality the attraction needed for the purpose, we are now forsooth to cut into s rea 11 pieces the only health-giving spot we have in the suburbs of the city, in order that they may sell a loaf the more, or that some gobble shop may spring up witb possible attraction-) to outvie those of the real centres of commerce. Are men in the outlying districts so dead to pecuniary advantages, that a difference of *> or 6 chains in the day's travel is to be the sole attraction to induce a change in their houses of call ? r apprehend not. lam one of tho«<- non-resi-dents who visit Christchurch «i.-cas.i.>tially for my supplies, and if, Sir, I can find that I am better served — better I mean in price, better in quality, better in civility, better in variety of material from which to choose, what canshould I hare for locality ; but the fact is not bo, and theref >re "Tug," Bridge." et genus omne, are crying out for a remedy which is none. There is an old Latin proverb, exquisitely appropriate to these gentlemen, the Knglish of which is, "We neglect tbe things uuder our noses, and, regardless of what is within our reach, pursue what is remote." And remote this "cart" road, this Hagley Park most undoubtedly ii. They say that am-h a road hatbeen marked on the map, and has been therefore sanctioned. I deny it >ir, and defy them to the proof; it nuver has been marked by competent authority on any map. The road from the Carlton to Dilloway's, and thence to the Lincoin road is the continuation of the Town Belt, and that from Dilloway's to the hospital was laid down by the founders of the settlement -, it is p-rt of the Great South Road, and cannot be alienated except by the Provincial Council. I will, however, admit that there haa been, and may be is, a design to make a broad and handsome footpath from the College Bridge to Kiccarton, and if to this your correspondents con fin themselves, no reasonable objection could ever be raised to the matter. The latter will some day he a necessity to preserve the pasturage of the park from reckless de»truction, and is in keeping with the object* for which ths reserve has been made — namely, a place of healthful recreation. How different this from a dusty, miserable dray road — for possible nameless drunkards to travel along and place in jeopardy the lives, or at leastthe comfort of women and children who res rt to tbe park for quiet enjoyment. And this must inevitably be the case unless you fence the road, and if you fence the road thim you cut the p'irk up into miserable angles. You cannot make a private carriage roa I through the park without injustice to those who are excluded from its uae; and, thank goodness, we liave not yet arrived at so supremely ari— tocratic a condition. If the aristocracy of Christchurch need a carriage drive — let them urge upon the city to com plete the formation of the belts afier the abused but beautiful plan now being carried out on its east side, and then they will have a drive worthy tbe name and attractive in the burguin. In the days of small revenues, our Provincial Government built at great cost a market hall in the northern region of the city, and fostered every movement made tn give vitality to its market place, but with bow little result subsequent times have shewn. Now, the only attraction possessed by the marketplace in is Post-offi c, late the Market Hall, and one or two superb tenements — the one occupied as a lolly shop, the other was, when last I visited thia attractive part of our city, a cobbler's. Now, I believe the first exists; but, nine, the ruins only of the rest. Let me, in conclusion, remind these really diainterented men. that it is written : Help yourself, and Heaven will help you. Your obedient servaut, AN OUTSIDER.