NEW POST OFFICE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 14, 9 February 1942, Page 5

NEW POST OFFICE

NEGOTIATIONS FURTHERED

HARBOUR BOARD'S PROBLEMS

Information was received at Friday's meeting of the Whakatane Harbour Board l that the Public Works Department had reached) an agreement with Messrs Armstrong Ltd. regarding the site at the southern end of the Strand which had been chosen for the new Post Office and would be settli'ng with the Board l for the purchase of its land. The secretary reported that for a portion comprising 7.2 perches the Board would receive £300 which could go into its funds, but the remainder of the £2,700 purchascc price for the balance of the site (approximately half an acre) would be paid to the Public Trustee as it involved endowment lands. The board would then have to. apply through the Supreme Court for permission to use those funds. This' procedure, he added, would take some time and expense and possibly it would be possible only to obtain the money for use if it was required for the purchase of further lands; The Act did not allow for its use in any other channel. The chairman explained that in his opinion, as the money could be released only for such an object that it be sought so that the required property could be purchased with a view to completing the proposed road across the mudflats connecting the Strand and King Street. This plan had previously been considered bpt abandoned when the new highway was being considered by the Highways Board. If the funds were released for this purpose there would be a considerable balance and then permission could be sought by special Act of Parliament for the spending of the surplus on work on this road. After some discussion it was decided that the Board's solicitor and the clerk proceed with the application to the Supreme Court.