AMALGAMATIONS WITH CITY

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24899, 12 June 1946, Page 6

AMALGAMATIONS WITH CITY

EMPLOYMENT OF LOCAL BODY STAFFS

REPLY TO LYTTELTON COUNCILLOR “Without wishing to interfere in any way in the Lyttelton Borough Council’s business, I feel that a reply to the reported remarks of one Lyttelton councillor is called for,” said the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr E. H. Andrews) yesterday when commenting on a report of the meeting of the Lyttelton Borough Council at which Mr W. T. Lindsay was appointed to fill a vacancy. Cr. F. H. Heal was reported as saying that the Borough Council was appointing a man who had pledged himself to amalgamation. Cr. Heal asked how the council’s present staff would work with the man who would have put them out of a job. “This is entirely wrong,” said Mr Andrews. “In all the amalgamations of local bodies with the Christchurch City Council the staffs of those local bodies have been retained. That is the set policy of the City Council, and would have been followed had Lyttelton elected to join the city.” The same applied to the recent taking over of the Waimairi electricity undertaking by the Municipal Electricity Department, added Mr Andrews. All the Waimairi employees were offered positions and as far as he knew only one or two had not accepted. “Tiiat policy has been made perfectly clear and has been reiterated time and time again, and no person concerned with amalgamations or proposed amalgamations should be unaware of it,” said Mr Andrews. “Whether a man favours amalgamation or not he should reasonably be expected to present the position straightforwardly.” COUNCILLOR RESIGNS Councillor J. N. Carson, chairman of the waterworks committee and actingchairman of the works committee, handed his resignation from the Lyttelton Borough Council to the Town Clerk (Mr J. Thompson) yesterday. Cr. Carson made it clear that his action was taken as a protest against the appointment on Monday night of Mr W. T. Lindsay to fill the vacancy on the council caused by the death of Cr. H. A. Fletcher.