SANDILANDS SCHEME

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20313, 24 May 1934, Page 13

SANDILANDS SCHEME

Objections to Locality Considered. A PUBLIC DISCUSSION. A considerable amount of opposition to the site at Sandilands which has been selected for the Christchurch Re- . turned Soldiers’ Association’s cottage J homes settlement was expressed at a public meeting in the Jellicoe Hall last evening when the scheme was explained by members of the executive of the association. The Mayor, Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P., presided over an attendance of about a hundred and fifty persons, including a mimber of women. After a lengthy discussion and a large number of questions had been dealt with, a motion was passed, approving of the scheme, subject to a report on the health and nuisance aspects of the site at Sandilands being favourable. Mr T. L. Drummond, vice-president of the association, who initiated the scheme, said that in 1928 the association became perturbed at the very unsatisfactory position of many of the returned men and the association could take most of the credit for the setting up of the Rehabilitation Commission which took evidence in 1,929. A report prepared at the request of the FinanceCommittee of the Cottage Homes Settlement Committee, giving details of specific cases of men willing to occupy houses at the settlement, was read by Mr Drummond. He said that there were suitable applicants for at least twenty of the houses as soon as they were ready. Responsibility of Government. With regard to the contention that the Government should undertake the scheme, Mr Drummond said that four years had passed and nothing had been done by the Government. It was all very well to say that it was the Government’s work, but the Returned Soldiers’ Association was not prepared to let these men go down into the grave under-nourished and uncared for simply because the Government would not act. The association had the authority of the commission that the scheme was justified. The Rev F. T. Read, president of the association, said that while one member of the executive felt that the Government should undertake the scheme, the other members were definitely of the opinion that someone should carrv it out, and if the Government would not do it, the association should give a lead. Mr W. E. Leadley, a member of the executive, said that the executive had kept away from the idea of a veterans’ home because it did not believe that such an institution would meet the needs of the men who were to be helped. He believed that Sandilands could be made an ideal settlement. Objectors to Site. Mr E. Orchard said he was not opposed to the scheme, but he objected to the site at Sandilands. He considered that it would be better to erect the cottages on sections in different parts of the city, where the men could live as ordinary decent citizens. Mr C. A. Yardley said . he* considered it would be a mistake to send men to Sandilands who ought to be living in districts specially suitable for the treatment of the ailments they were suffering from. In his opinion, the executive was committing itself to something more far-reaching than it realised. After further discussion, the Mayor said the principal objection he had heard that evening was to the Sandilands site. He suggested that the executive should obtain from a representative group of doctors an authoritative opinion as to the suitability of the site. A motion that the executive obtain opinions from the Health Department, doctors and residents in the district regarding the health and musance aspects of the Sandilands site and that the report be published was carried. Mr A. 11. Campbell moved that, subject to the report on the site at Sandilands being favourable, the meeting approve of the scheme. The motion was seconded h}' Mr H Fleck, a past president of the association, who said he had not heard any criticism that was of a constructive nature. The motion was carried by an overwhelming majority.