MR ELL READY TO PUT UP A FIGHT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19120, 12 July 1930, Page 9

MR ELL READY TO PUT UP A FIGHT.

WILL RESIST ANY MOVE TO ABOLISH TOLL-GATE. “ If there is any attempt to remove the toll-gate by force I will re-erect a gate or a barrier ajid continue to collect tolls, and if I am prosecuted it will not make any difference; I will resist the removal of the toll-gate to the end even if they kill me. That is quite definite; if the toll-gate goes I will have nothing left to live for.” Mr H. G. Ell made the above statement this morning when he called at the “ Star ” office in order to make a complaint concerning an article published in yesterday’s “Star” regarding the completion of the section of the Port Hills-Akaroa Summit Road, between Kennedy’s Bush and Gebbie’s “ The effect of the statement published in last night’s * Star,’ ” said Mr Ell, “ is aboslutely hostile and brutally inconsiderate, as the suggestion made that the local bodies should be called upon to contribute towards the cost of metalling the road would mean that they would secure possession and would attempt to remove the toll-gate. Land Purchased. “ The Public Works Engineer (Mr F. Langbein) knows this because I have explained the position to him personally. Mr Langbein approached me nearly two years ago and asked me if I could negotiate with Mr F. H. Fields -with a view to arranging for the road to be taken through his property. As a result of those negotiations 17 acres of land were purchased at Conical Hill, and a generous supporter of the Summit Road Trust paid a cheque for £IG4 as a deposit, his sole object being to advance the Summit Road scheme. The land purchased has a total liability of £412 on it. “Later, Mr Langbein again approached me and stated that the work was being held up by Mr W. Witte, who would not allow the road to be constructed through his private property. I told Mr Langbein that I had been negotiating with Mr Witte for some time with a view to acquiring sufficient land to enable the road to be advanced. Reserves. “I now tell the public for the first time that I arranged with the Bank of New Zealand for an overdraft of £IOO guaranteed by a Summit Road supporter, but that my little income is liable for the interest and sinking fund charges on that overdraft. Against the overdraft I wrote out a cheque which I paid as a deposit on the purchase of 53 acres from Mr Witte, and that area has been added to the Summit Road reserves. “In connection with the road through Gebbie’s Pass, I personally waited on the trustees and one of the beneficiaries of the estate, and undertook to purchase the land required for the road. Last week I saw the agent for the trustees, with a view to putting the purchase on a definite footing. “As a result of my efforts it has been possible to put the road through, yet in the face of these facts and after I have given thirty years of my life to this work a proposal is deliberately made to call in the local bodies to take possession jf the road and to take away the toll-gate, the revenue from which has increased from £47 to over £l5O a year. Pedestrians’ Interests. “The scenic beauties lauded so liberally in the article have been saved as a result of my efforts, and the road would never have been put through if it thad been left to the local bodies. If the toll-gate goes, the whole of the interests of the pedestrians goes. “I guarantee that if the toll-gate is left the road will be metalled over the whole distance within three years, without the local bodies being required to pay a penny towards the cost. I have had to find the whole of the cost of maintaining the road from Dyer’s Pass to Kennedy’s Bush since 1900, and for the past two months I have had a man working on the road from Kennedy’s Bush to Cooper’s Knob.” Mr Ell stated that a well-known resident has made out a will, containing a bequest for £IOOO in favour of the Summit road and footpath. The will has been lodged with the Public Trustee.