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The Trust was able to arrange for the General Manager of the Masterton Licensing Trust to visit Gferaldine for its second meeting in February. After viewing tlhe premises being considered by the Trust, he gave the meeting much valuable information and advice relating to licensing trust procedure, management, and other relevant matters. The Trust has also received valuable assistance and support from many of the largest importers of liquor, and promises of technical assistance and advice have been freely offered from these and many other sources. Considerable information as to the operations of the Invercargill and Masterton Licensing Trusts was in hands of individual Trust members well prior to the election of the Trust. The Trust members have from the outset been fully aware of their responsibility as representatives of the Trust district, and as to their position as members of a Licensing Trust called upon to carry out the duties of providing proper licensing and accommodation facilities in this area, which being predominantly rural, differs materially from the larger Trust districts such as Masterton, Invercargill, and the newly constituted neighbouring district of Ashburton. BRIEF SURVEY OF THE GERALDINE LICENSING TRUST The Geraldine Licensing Trust District is a rural area in which the main concentration of population is about 1,700, including the Geraldine Borough, and the extra urban areas of Raukapuka and the Geraldine Downs, immediately adjacent in the Geraldine County (county population, 5,850). Geraldine is four miles from the main south highway and railway, and is on the bus route connecting Christchurch, with Fairlie, Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook, and the Southern Lakes. A considerable tourist traffic passes through daily using the above route. The district is well known for its scenic beauty and is attractive from all tourist aspects. Other smaller centres of population in the Trust district are Orari and Rangitata on the main south road and railway, also Arundel and Peel Forest higher up on the Rangitata River. Several areas in the Trust district have little community of interest with Geraldine Township, being adjacent to Fairlie, Winchester, and Temuka, where licensing facilities already exist. The district" was forced to go " dry" in 1908 owing to an electoral boundary change, and no licences have been obtainable in the district since that year, although the area has long since been reattached to " wet " districts. The district has never itself voted " dry." The position of the district was fully covered by the recent Licensing- Commission in its report. In consequence of the lack of revenue from liquor sales, hotel accommodation in the area has sunk to a low condition. Presumably, the electors in voting for restoration with Trust Control assumed that the Trust method was the surest way of bringing back proper accommodation and liquor facilities into the area. This, in any case, is the duty which the Geraldine Licensing Trust fefels it is called upon to discharge. POLICY Oi 1 THE TRUST Taking all the circumstances in the Trust District into account, the Trust considers that the provision of bottle stores, or separate bar lounges (either on a temporary or permanent basis) would not meet the needs of the area, and that provision of proper hotel accommodation, with facilities for

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