SUMNER AND AMALGAMATION

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23965, 4 June 1943, Page 7

SUMNER AND AMALGAMATION

Sir,—You publish to-day the account of a “resolution, moved by Mr W. Machin, at a meeting of the Sumner Borough Council. Question 3 of the resolution refers particularly to terms. At a meeting held in Redcliffs on February 11 last, attended by about 30 persons, representing most parts of the borough. Mr Machin made the following statement: “When I was elected to the council 1 had an open mind about amalgamation; I wanted to know the terms. Since then New Brighton has joined the city; the terms are known, and they are more than generous. I asked the Mayor of Christchurch if Sumner joined the city would the terms be the same, and he answered yes! precisely. Under those conditions I think Sumner would be well advised to join.” Mr Machin then offered to assist the movement by drawing up comparative figures. Would he explain why he does not know the terms now, when he knew them on February 11, and his present attitude?— Yours, etc., E, G. EBERT. June 1, 1943. [“ls it unreasonable that we should want to know the exact conditions under which sumner joins the city, seeing that the decision, once made, would be irrevocable?” said •Mr Machin, when the letter wss referred to him yesterday. He added that he did not agree with the quotation of what he had said at the meeting at Redcliffs. Also, the question of sewage, gas works, and a separate electricity supply with which Sumner was concerned did not come into the New Brighton question at all. These were all matters which Sumner would want to know about before joining the city.]*