SYDENHAM LOAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6847, 8 May 1890, Page 4

SYDENHAM LOAN.

PUBLIC MEETING.

THE PROPOSALS REJECTED. A public meeting of the burgesses of Sydenham was held last evening in the

r J Oddfellows' Hall, Colombo road, for the •£ i purpose of considering the expediency, or c I otherwise, of raising a special loan of t I .£5500, or less, for the purchase by the n Borough of a piece of land for recreation 0 purposes. There were about two hundred 3 ! present ; his Worship the Mayor presided, c The Town Clerk (Mr J. Allison, jun.) read the advertisement having reference to the loan. c The Mayor explained the object of B the meeting. He said there could j! be no doubt of the desirableness of B j obtaining a piece of ground, centrally B • situated in the Borough, for recreation pur- £ f poses. A favourable opportunity had pieB ■ sented itself for the acquisition by the B j Borough of the old Show Grounds. Cor(j i respondence had passed between the k ! Borough Council and the Agricultural and t I Pastoral Association on the subject, and . j the proposal to raise a special loan was the outcome. 1 The general funds were not sufficient for 3 j the purpose. Hence the proposal for a 3 special loan upon which it wasneeessary for j ! the ratepayers to express au opinion. A j • majority of over one-half the ratepayers was T ( required to sanction the loan. If the j ' meeting decided in favour of the loan, steps \ ! would be taken to have a poll, but if t | against it, nothing further would be done. ' i He asked Councillor T. E. Taylor to move ' a resolution. 3 Councillor T. E. Taylor moved — "That . i this meeting approves of the proposal of - I the Borough Council to secure a euitt I able piece of land in the Borough of » j Sydenham for recreation purposes." The > ; matter had been before the Borough Council for some years past. The most definite proposal had been that submitted by a Committee appointed on June 24 last. 1 , It was to lease the old Show Grounds for > j sixteen years for .£IOOO, with a right to I purchase at any time for .£4OOO additional, . the Council to let the frontages of the | J Show grounds — about three acres — and ! - apply the remaining eleven acres to ' I recreation purposes. An amendment to this report had been carried to the effect that the ratepayers should be ! ; consulted as to a special loan. lie \ j would prefer to see fifty acres acquired v I within an easy distance of the centre of the ' i Borough instead of the comparatively small I .' area of the old Show Grounds. There was ': no present need of such a reserve. He » knew of such a block as would be suitable 5 | in Wilderness lane, and he felt strongly ' ■ that the old Show Grounds •were unsuit- , able. London had much better provision r . ] for recreation than many Colonial towns in proportion to p6pulation, though it was j ■ generally supposed that Colonial cities were j more roomy. The loan would necessitate . a special rate of a ninth of a penny in the c £. He did not believe tbat posterity * : should take care of itself in such matters. j i Had our fathers acted soweßhouldhaveno ; Hagley Park to-day. He begged to move * ! the resolution. j Councillor E. M k Taylor seconded the ■ motion pro forma. He considered the 1 ; Municipal Corporations Act prevented the 3 j matter being dealt with as proposod by J j the last speaker. Clause 178 provided 1 I that the particular work proposed to be 8 j undertaken must be specified, and a loan 2 •to be spent in any locality would be * ; contrary to the spirit of the law. (Cheers.) £ | It was useless to put the ratepayers to the j; ; expense of a poll, &c, unless they did it 6 legally and properly. (Cheers.) A loan 3 : for a general spending scheme, such as he i considered this was, would be illegal. 3 Mr Mayne spoke against the proposal. He considered that .£2OOO or j£3ooo would be sufficient for the purpose. r Mr Muffett gave a history of the negol tiations which had taken place between . the Council and the Agricultural and 3 Pastoral Association. He considered the - proposal was simply throwing dust in the 3 ratepapers' eyes, as it was very unlikely that the necessary majority would be obtained for a loan. There was already a Becreation Eeserve of five acres at Addington, and the ratepayers there would not be likely to vote for an increased rate of one-ninth of a penny in the £ ; nor would the ratepayers of other parts be willing to bear additional taxation. He considered it absurd to go on with the proposal, especially as they were given no particulars as to the land Mr T. E, Taylor proposed to acquire. Mr Peacock spoke warmly against the proposal. He criticised the proposed sites, aud considered any person in Sydenham could walk to Hagley Park in twenty minutes. He hoped the ratepayers would vote straight against the proposal. Councillor Smith took it that the meeting wa3 called to express an opinion on the proposal to purchase the Show Grounds. He had been in favour of doing bo, if it would not increase the rates, and had moved for the Committee which had reported to the Council in June last. Personally he was in favour of the Show Grounds if any such purchase was to be made. (Applause.) The Show Grounds would be a desirable purchase, but he thought they should not go beyond .£4OOO for them. The Council had decided to consult the ratepayers as to a loan, and the matter was in their hands. Mr Dawson thought theachemeat present immature. Thfe Council did not appear to be all agreed — at least there was a strike amongst the "Taylors." (Laughter.) He would like to see the Show Ground acquired. It would make a beautiful centre to the municipal property, though the area was rather limited. As to the proposal to go to the Wilderness, he thought that locality was too far off. Perhaps it would be better to purchase a block a little way down the tram line. He thought they should wait till there was more unanimity as to a site. He would gladly pay one-ninth of a penny in the £ extra, but considered that the proposal was at present rather premature. (Applause.) The Mayor said he was sorry to notice a feeling of suspicion as to what had been done in the Council. He did not think it was creditable to the ratepayers that they were suspicious of their Councillors. He considered Mr Muffett'a remarks as to throwing dust in their eyes, were unseemly. He believed the provisions of the Act had been fully met. The proposal to cut off the frontages of the Show Grounds was only contingent on the old proposal to purchase the land out of general funds, but if it was bought by a special loan, these frontages would not be cut off. It would be two or three acres larger tiian Lancaster Park, which was a fairly large breathing space. His opinion was that the majority of the Council would rather see the Show Grounds bought than •any section further away from the centre of the district. He had not heard of the Wilderness lane section till that night. The proposal did not specify the amount to be expended. He believed the land could be obtained for less than J25500 if the Council were prepared to make a definite offer. Mr T. E. Taylor, in reply, said he was not the father of the proposal, but had undertaken to put it before the meeting for discussion. He would oppose aDy attempt to have a reserve in the western part of the district. It should bo East of Colombo road, if not upon it, and about the centre of what would be the most populous part of tho Borough. There was a deficit of £350 on the general funds, to pay which the interest funds would be made use of. Therefore nothing could be done unless the ratepayers sanctioned a special loan. If something was not soon done to make provision for a recreation reserve, their children would have just cause for censoring them for want of forethought. The motion was then put, when only half-a-dozen hands were held up in its favour, and a large number against. The Mayor declared the motion lost, and a vote of thanks to his Worship, for presiding, concluded the meeting.