Petitioners Change Views In Manakau Dispute

Chronicle (Levin), 11 June 1948, Page 4

Petitioners Change Views In Manakau Dispute

Three of the ' five Manakau settlers who last month signed a petition to the Horowhenua County Council demanding that notiee be Served on Mr. A. V. Hornig for the ; removal of a fence alleged to be constituting a public nuisance and obstruction, at a meeting of the council on Wednesday sought the retraction of their names from .the petition on" the grounds that they , jhad been misinformed. At last month's meeting the council was obliged to act on the petiticfti and served notice on Mr. Hornig to have the fence removed within 30 days. The petition was signed by Messrs. W. J. Philiips, Junr., G. Woods, N. A. Nicholson, H. Christenson and R. J. White.

At Wednesday's council meeting j Messrs. Christianson, White' and^ Nicholson wrote -seeking the re- 1 traction of their names from thep petition. Since signing the petition U he had learnt facts which madeji the removal of the fence an injus- ij tice, wrote Mr. Christianson. ■ Previously he had no idea of the )' true position. A second petitioner, u Mr. White, said he had 'signed the1 petition on the spur of the moment without a true knowledge of the facts, and claimed that he had; been misinformed and led to believe i something which was not the case and * which, in any case, was not a J concern of his. Mr. Nicholson, whose name appeare'd on a list ; Submitted by Mr. Hornig as supporting the retention of the disput- j ed fence, said he eonsidered a . decided improvement had resulted* from its ereetion. I Enclosing a substantial list of j names in support of Ifis case, Mr. Hornig said in a lettsr to the council that the majority of those who had petitioned against him had, not had a true understanding of the circurnstances. He was certain , beyond a doubt that the petition | had r.esulted from "ili will 'and. ( malice by a Manakau resiaent." i • "It is mpst unfortunate that 1 people allow themselves to be pull-j ed into a petition and when a local ; jbody acts on it they withdraw,"] sai'd the chairman, Mr. A. M. Col- ■ quhoun, when commenting. "It is a most unfortunate position, as Mr. i Hornig has been served with a notice which will lapse before the 'next meeting of the council. The I council has come to a decision and il'm afraid it should stand by it." It should also be remembered, he said, that the fence was only there |at the pleasure of the council, andithe owner eould be asked to remove lit at any time. He felt, however, ithat Mr. Hornig should be allowe'd ito state his case. i After further , disc.ussion, it w«s : agreed that the notice served on Mr. • Hornig should be suspended until after he had been heard. The matter was then referred to the next | meeting of the council.