VICE-REGAL HOME

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28267, 3 May 1957, Page 8

VICE-REGAL HOME

Purchase In City Unlikely

Christchurch is unlikely to have an official residence for the Governor-General. It is equally unlikely that the Government will agree to buy a Vice-Regal residence elsewhere in the South Island. When the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) was in Christchurch earlier this year he undertook to have reports obtained from the Ministry of Works on two Canterbury homes which had been suggested as suitable for a ViceRegal residence—“Otahuna,” the home of the late Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, and “Mona Vale,” the Fendalton home of Mrs T. Gough. Those reports have been made, and it is believed that the Government is agreed that the cost involved would not be warranted. A factor believed to be against “Otahuna” is its distance from Christchurch.

Proposals for a South Island home for the Governor-General have been made over a number of years. Recently, when Lord Cobham was appointed GovernorGeneral, there was increased local support for the scheme, as Lord Cobham has family associations with Christchurch and Canter-

bury, and it is expected that he will want to spend perhaps more time in the South Island than did some of his predecessors. His big family was another reason advanced by advocates of a ViceRegal residence. The Canterbury Progress League has given its support for “Mona Vale.” Few local bodies have expressed an opinion, but some of their prominent members have been lukewarm about the scheme An argument against a ViceRegal residence is that hotel accommodation has improved throughout the country. It is also probable that if a GovernorGeneral wished to spend some time in the city with his family a suitable house would be made available for him. That has happened in the past. Auckland is the only centre outside Wellington which has an official Vice-Regal residence.