Hoardings On Their Merits.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19165, 23 November 1927, Page 8

Hoardings On Their Merits.

The hoardings question took a new tarn on Monday night when the Coon-

cil decided that applications for permits must be treated " on their merits." It was apparently decided at the same time that merit has nothing to do with the distinction between business and residential areas, since we are to have a further 106 feet of "advertising "panels" in Victoria street, Manchester street, and Colombo street North, but have been saved (temporarily) from 178 feet in Oxford terrace, Ferry road, Papanui road, and Colombo street South. The Council, in fact, is back again to its starting point, after announcing, and trying, we do not know how many brave new policies and programmes, and getting more hopelessly confused with each. But there is no indication yet that it is done with absurdity and will in future take a wise and safe line. The Mayor knows what should be done, and will perhaps try again to get it done, but he had only four Councillors behind him on Monday night, and it is not certain that they will all be there another time. In any case they are not all opposed to hoardings for the same or for equally good reasons, though their reasons would not matter if their votes were sure. There is, however, a hope, not very big but growing, that the supporters of hoardings will find themselves sooner or later without even an absurd reason for granting any more licenses. Even Councillor Andrews has had to begin being " disgusted" with a camera, and if one Councillor is running so short of ammunition the others can hardly be much better supplied. The Mayor should attack again, even with his very thin line, and if he does not succeed in getting a definite declaration that hoardings are everywhere objectionable, he will at least show intelligent citizens who the enemies of civic beauty are.