H—27a

Tenders must be addressed to Board's Secretary in sealed envelopes marked " Tender No. 318." Highest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Schedules of conditions may be obtained at the Board's Wellington Office, the office of the Board's District Executive Officers, Dilworth Buildings, Queen Street, Auckland, and Old Art Gallery Building, Durham Street, Christchurch; also at the District Offices of the Department of Industries and Commerce at Christchurch and Dunedin. The conditions of sale showed that a person could tender for any lot or lots or any group of lots or all the lots, and that the various lots were offered for sale " as is where is," and that each purchaser should take delivery of the chattels purchased by him at the site on which they are at present situate. Tenders closed on the 4th March, 1946, and will be referred to in more detail later, and on the sth March the General Manager reported and made recommendations to the Minister of Finance that Archibalds' tender for Lots 2 and 3 and Gillies' tender for Lot 1 be accepted, and that all offers for Lot 4 be declined. At the Board meeting on the 12th March the Board resolved to endorse the recommendations of the General Manager, who further recommended that, in view of the substantial amount of the tenders, the Board should place the park and Store No. 13 at the disposal of the successful tenderers free of charge, and the Board resolved accordingly. The Minister approved of the General Manager's recommendations on the 13th March. The successful tenderers were duly notified of the acceptance of their tenders, and then at the meeting of the Board on the 26th March the General Manager reported that Archibalds Ltd. desired to be released from their contract, and produced a letter from that firm's solicitors, and the Board resolved, on the General Manager's recommendation : (a) That all previous tenderers be informed that the successful tenderer for Lot 2 (Dodge) and Lot 3 (Jeeps) were unable to proceed with the deal, and that therefore fresh tenders were invited for these two lots, either as a whole or as two separate lots : (b) That Messrs. Archibalds Ltd. be informed that should any amended tender which they care to submit be accepted, then the deposit already paid will be treated as part of the purchase-price, otherwise the deposit originally paid is to be forfeited. It will be noted that there is no express mention in the minute of the Board's decision to release Archibalds, but that is left to be inferred from the minute as recorded. At this meeting the General Manager also reported that Messrs. Gillies Ltd. had made an offer of £5OO for Lot 4 (motor parts and scrap), and this offer was accepted on condition that the site must be cleared within nine months coinciding with the clearance of the vehicles from the park. The original tenderers (including Archibalds) were invited to submit fresh tenders for Lots 2 and 3, closing on the 17th April, and it was decided that all tenders be submitted to the Board meeting on the 30th April, and at this meeting the General Manager reported that the Minister had directed that before the tenders were dealt with a committee consisting of the Board's valuers and a representative of the Public Works Department must inspect and value all vehicles. This had been done, and the report of this committee was received. It was resolved, in view of the difficulties of making valuations as expressed by the committee, that it be a recommendation to Cabinet through the Minister that the highest tenders for the Dodge trucks and the Jeeps be accepted. On the 13th May Archibalds' solicitors wrote to the General Manager withdrawing the revised tender submitted by that firm for Lots 2 and 3. At the meeting of the 21st May the General Manager reported that Cabinet had authorized acceptance of tenders as follows : Dodge trucks : C. R. Vincent. £26,050. Jeeps : General Repair Service. £20,150. A letter was received from Archibalds' solicitors requesting refund of deposit £3,165, and it was resolved that the previous decision be adhered to and the deposit forfeited.

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