SITING DIFFICULTY MAY BE CLEARED UP BY SECOND TERM: NO CHANGE IN MEANTIME

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 44, 21 January 1949, Page 5

SITING DIFFICULTY MAY BE CLEARED UP BY SECOND TERM: NO CHANGE IN MEANTIME

Ohope School

Actually, a site might have "been available even earlier, but the burning down of the art school at Auckland recently made it necessary for the Board to divert every available prefabricated building to filling the gap temporarily, wfth the re- ; ' suit that the buildings that were being held for Ohope are not • now immediately available. , However, the Ohope Presbyterian 'Bible Class Camp Site Committee, which has been co-operating with the Board and the School Committee in providing accommodation - for the present side school, has in- ‘ timated to the School Committee " that it is not only prepared to carry •on the existing arrangement, but : never contemplated terminating it. In fact, though it will not agree to ' the proposal to lease a portion of 'the Bible Class camp site for a teml porary school, the Presbyterian * committee has offered to extend the arrangement to give improved accommodation. Surprised” Following is the full text of the "reply which the Camp Site Comimittee has sent through its chair:man, the Very Rev J. G. Laughton, ‘C.M.G., to the secretary of the :School Committee: — “In the first place my committee is somewhat surprised to note that ;your proposals seem to envisage the termination of the present arrangements between the School 'Committee and the Camp Site Com:xnittee, although no notice has been ? given to my committee to indicate •such intention. These arrangements were entered into between the Camp Site Committee and the Whakatane School Committee together with representatives of the Auckland Education Board. In view of the then .’urgent need of temporary accommodation for an Infant School at Ohope, imy committee agreed to alter the plans projected for the erection of a Conference Dining Room so as to conform to the requirements stated by the Board’s architect, and also to provide the necessary sanitary arrangements. Heavy Expenditure - “These alterations to our plans entailed an expenditure of some .hundreds of pounds additional to -our estimate. The understanding was that, until the permanent school .-was erected, the School Committee would continue to rent the Dining .'Room,- erected in terms of this ;; agreement, and also the Bible Class . cottage made available to the school -under the same agreement, and that in this way my committee would recoup at least part of the additional into which we had entered to help meet the crisis which 'had developed with regard to the -.education of the younger children - of Ohope. “There has been no move from our side to terminate these arrangements, and we are surprised that your committee now -.- appears to contemplate their cancellation in favour of the provision of other temporary - school accommodation, and that without any other intimation to : my committee than that which is contained by inference in - your new proposals. (Lease Fefused “Your proposal to lease for a period of from five to seven years the front portion of our site for the erection of temporary school buildings '■ conflicts with my committee’s plans for the further development of that portion of the site for the purpose ' for which it was acquired—to provide the amentities of a conference ..centre for the youth work of the '•Church throughout the Bay of Plenty. Yoifr proposals also conflict with the plan which has been entertained from the beginning of my <• committee’s project—the preparation of a site for a Church building. “For these reasons and because - the Camp Site Committee are trus- - tees charged with the prosecution ( of these objectives we are unable to agree to your proposal to lease the front of the property. An Offer “We are, however, concerned for the welfare of the children of the •district, as you very properly are, and we have therefore decided to s)ffer you the rental of the second Bible Class cottage on terms &imi--7 lar to those under which you at

Following telephoned communication from the Education Board’s architect, Mr A. B. Miller, on Wednesday, the Whakatane School Committee’s secretary, Mr J. H. Duthie, said the Committee now has every reason to hope that the siting difficulty in connection with the Ohope School will be cleared up at least temporarily, and possibly permanently, by the beginning of the second term this year.

present lease the Dining Room and Lilburn Lodge. Further, so as to improve the two cottages for use as school rooms, we are prepared to negotiate with your committee with a view to replacing the wooden shutters in both buildings with suitable windows.

“In conclusion, let me say that my committee is just as anxious now to co-operate with your committee in securing the welfare of the children of Ohope as they were at the beginning of the negotiations between our two committees, when our goodwill was demonstrated by a heavy expenditure, and the proposal which we now make is made in that spirit.”