COUNCIL SUPPORTS FURTHER HOTELS FOR WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 38, 14 September 1949, Page 5

COUNCIL SUPPORTS FURTHER HOTELS FOR WHAKATANE

The Whakatane Borough Council is to support any move, for the granting of another wholesale liquor license or licenses and hotel license or licenses at Whakatane it was decided at Monday night’s meeting of the Council. The possibility of a hotel license being held by the Council was also mentioned but no action was taken in this direction.

The discussion opened when a letter was received from the Licensing Control Commission asking for information that would have any bearing of granting hotel and retail licenses in the Borough. It was a matter that the Council should take an interest in as it vitally affected the whole town, the Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry said. There was a very definite accommodation shortage and another hotel seemed necessary. Cr H. G. Warren agreed that something should be done as the town needed more accommodation urgently. A few weeks ago he had had to take a complete stranger into his own home because there were no rooms available in the hotels.

While more accommodation was needed Cr A. O’Rourke said he thought that an hotel would have to have a license to carry on' to meet the high costs involved in running a boarding establishment today. The deputy mayor,.Mr C. S. Armstrong, said that Whakatane could not have big sports meetings or Dominion conferences because of the limited hotel accommodation. While on the allocation of hotel licenses Mr Barry said (that it was now possible for a local body to hold a license. If the Council felt disposed it could hold a license and run an hotel on the same lines as the Invercargill Licensing Trust. The Council decided to form a committee to work in with the Chamber of Commerce, which is at present investigating Whakatane’s needs.