Dear Sir,

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 68, 1 May 1946, Page 4

Dear Sir,

Letters to the Editor must be cSearly written on one side of the paper only and where a nom-de-plume is used the name of the writer must be included for reference purposes. The Editor reserves the right to abridge s amend or withhold any letter or letters.

BOROUGH COUNCIL REPORTS Sir, —Once again I take up my pen to write and ask for a full report of the Borough Council’s meetings. I have had a copy of your paper delivered to. me, every time it has been published, since I came to Whakatane three years ago. Granted, there were items published re the meeting in March. I read them but there was no actual report of the meeting itself. Until the press prints these reports, the ratepayers will remain in the state of apathy which exists here today. They are not encouraged to take any interest in the Borough, therefore it doesn’t progress as it should. Whakatane is a beautiful place, and should be more advanced. I don’t like to draw a comparison, but could tell you of a Borough with less adult population, which in 20 years, built roads, installed electricity, sewerage, an adequate water supply (no river beside the town either), has two beautiful well-kept parks in the town, Municipal baths, modern Municipal Chambers, Fire Brigade Station and Plunket Rooms, children’s playing area, a- recreation ground for all sports including Polo, midget carracing and picnic race meeting and. a good library, with the Country Library Service. All this within easy reach of the shopping area, and, because the land valuation is not so high, for less rates, than we pay in. Whakatane. But the ratepayers know what is being done for the good of the Borough through the reports of all Council meetings, which encourage an interest. The result, a live Borough. Could it be that the local Borough Council object to a full report of their meetings being published! Surely not, but it would be interesting to know. - I have taken the liberty of enclosing some cuttings from the local paper of reports of Borough meetings, of the Borough referred to for your perusal. Old ones, but all I

have by me. Thanking you and still hoping. Yours etc.,

THE SAME RATEPAYER.

(We thank our correspondent for the clearer elucidation of her criticism regarding our reporting of the Borough Council meetings. The difference of opinion is merely in method of news presentation, and there are no grounds for her first asser- ' tion that the Borough Council proceedings were not reported at all. From the clippings she has forwarded of the ‘Morrins villa Star’ (which, we know very well indeed) it is now clear that our correspondent prefers the old-fashioned style of setting out a meeting whereby the whole report appears in condensed form in solid columns, under one set of headlines. This was the accepted vogue some 30 years ago, and some papers still preserve it, but the modern set up is to break the news of any meeting into readable subjects sub-head them, and serve them up in broken form for digestion by all types of readers of varying schools of thought. In this way a far greater coverage is given in more interesting form. This we have striven to do. That it meets with general approval is borne out by our ever-growing subscribers list (now 1(130). The shortcomings * of Whakatane as far as the development and rating problems are concerned can hardly be laid at the ‘BEACON’S* door, but in any case we thank our correspondent and trust that she will continue' to see fit to agitate for Whakatane’s progress, and possibly come forward and take an active hand in achieving her objectives. Ed.)