BOROUGH COUNCIL WITH HOLDS REST ROOM PERMIT

Chronicle (Levin), 4 November 1948, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL WITH HOLDS REST ROOM PERMIT

Committee Told To Obtain Public Opinicn

A decision to with-hold the issuing of ^permit for the erection of the ladies' rest room by the Shannon Rest Room 'Committee until the committee- retumed to the public and obtained the general feeling on the project was reached at the fortnightly meeting of the Shannon Borough Council. The committee mnst then adhere to the wishes of the public. The dis^ cussion lasted two hours and followed the reception of a deputation from the Rest Room Committee, comprising Mrs. E. L. Hyde and Mr. D. A. Jones, which placed the requeSt for a pefihit before the council. Mrs. Hyde, who opened the case for the committee, stated that at a recent meeting her committee had 'decided to go ahead and erect the building as planned. Therefore, it would be necessary to have a permit from the council. For the past three yeafs they had been trying to obtain a suitable site for the rest room and ha'd now been successful. The committee considered that the site was quite a good cne, and they had the money on hand for the building. All that :was now required was the permis[sion of the council to carry on. Mr. Jones said that most of the councillors had at one time or another seen the plans of the proposed building. He went on to outline details of the eonstruction. Mr. Jones asked if the council would be prepared to take over the control of the rooms when they were completed. p The Mayor (Mr. D. A. Fitzgerald) said that he understood the committee had«tWo objects in view. One was for the council to take over the building and the other was to have it controlled by i, committee of trustees. In reply to a question asked by Cr. C. M. Cronquest, Mr. Jones advised that they had come before the council with two requests. One was for permission to erect the building and the other was for the! council to take over the buiMingl When fcompleted. J At this point Cr. L. G. Sayert stated that he understood that the t building was to be erected in the ! town's brick area and from thej plans it seemed that It was to have 15 inch concrete foundations and) the walls were to be of excel boardj with a plaster finish. Would this j comply with the borough regula- j tions? Also, if the committee of, trustees did not go on for ever,1 wou'd the build.ng then fall to the. council to control? j Regarding tne first question, thej town clerk (Mr. J. T. Bovis) said; that the town's brick area extend-j e'd from Grey Street along Plim-j mer Tenace to Ballance Street,; and along Ballance Street to Venn'j Street. The building would then j be within the brick area. To this the deputation replied; that they would be prepared to; construct the building to comply! with the regulations. Regarding the trustee matter, j Mrs. Hyde advised that the admin-j is'tration would be under the con-j trol of the Mayor of the to'wn. j

| Financial Liabilities j Cr. Sayer said he was concernedi with the financial liabilities. The 'building would always require !attention even if the rest room fund was not available. Mrs. Hyde submitted that a rest room was a necessity to the town and she felt that the council should do something in the matter. in reply to 'a question, Mrs. Hyde said that the building would combine both a rest room and conveniences. She then said that ehe understood that -the Levin conveniences were cleaned each morning by the borough employee. Cr. R. S. Downes pointed out that whereas Levin had only conveniences, the projected building would be also a rest room and then perhaps some extra cleaning and polishing would be necessary. Mr. Jones said that the job of cleaning would only be a minor one. Cr. Sayer then asked whether, assuming the building was erected on the site suggested, could it at a future date be ineluded in a community centre. Mrs. Hyde replied that the section was only 25 feet wide. Cr. Sayer observed that if it could be embodied in a community centre, it could be erected now land a Subsidy could be drawn immediately. Cr. cronquest pointed out that the section was privately owned. Cr. Sayer then suggested that if the rest room was built, the War Memorial Hall Committee might later purchase the remainder of the section and build its proposed hall incorporating the rest room and collect a subsidy on the total valuation. At this point the Mayor brought the meeting to order, saying that only the rest room was under discussion and not a community centre or war memorial. Cr. Cronquest stated that the committee had bebn clear about complying with the regulations in building within the brick area and was now asking for a permit. The town clerk drew attention to the fact that an application and a plan had to be submitted before permission could be granted by the council. So far the. council had received no notification from the Building Controller on the subject. To this an assurance was given that the Building Controller had approved the building. As ho further informatidn was required from the - deputation it witftdresfc ■ __ l_J .. I L - . ••

Foilowihg a request for further information on the Rest Room Committbe7s activity, the Mayor reported On a recent meeting and said that as the result of a public' meeting held some time ago the committee was directed to go ahead with the eonstruction of the rest room 'as a separate unit. Several attempts had been made from time to time to get the rest room combined with the memorial hall project, and two deputations were received by the Rest Room Committee at its last meeting. Followihg discussi'on it was resolved that the building be erected Us a separate unit on the section decided upon, three members of the committee had resigned. In reply to a question asked by Cr. Downes, the Mayor advised that there were three representatives of the council on the Rest Room Committee. Cr. H. Aitchison said that the council was entitled to know the reason why he had tendered his resignation from the committee. He was one of the coun'cil's representatives and had also been appointed by the public, and he felt that he was working in the public 's interestS in trying to get the two buildings joined and save duplicating the conveniences, cutting caretaking costs and obtaining the Government subsidy. He had resigned because he considered it such a colossal mistake and against all the interests of the town. It was better to have one good building in the town than to have two serving the same purpose. This was the time for town planning, continued Cr. Aitchison. He felt that he did not have the heart and soul to carry on serving with the committee under the present conditions. The council had three representatives on the committee, „but when a deputation- came. before them from their own body, bringing a decision which they had agreed to around the council table, they voted as individuals and against the council's wishes. He claimed that the Mayor -and Cr. V. J. Bateman were out of order in supporting the motion that the rest room be erected on its own. He did not think the other members of the council would be surprised' that he should resign from the committee in face of these facts. The Mayor stated that it was the ' desire of the council's deputation j, to bring about a reconciliation between the two committees. How-j ever, he felt that he could not use his power to to outvote the women j on the committee, who wanted the building to be completed under the power vested in them by a majority from a public meeting. The Mayor then moved that the Rest Room Committee be given permission to build the rest room and the 1 council accept the rest room when completed. This motion was seconded by Cr. Bateman, who stated that it was high time a rest room' of a decent standard was built in* the town. Speaking ' to the motion, Mr. Fitzgerald said that there seemed to be much ill feeling between the( two committees. A certain section was determined to get the rest room into the memorial hall and was working to that end. The council's rest room was by no means good and it was time to provide suitable amenities.

Talk of "Pressure Gang" Mr. Fitzgerald then made reference to the work of a "pressure gang," firstly with the Ratepayers' Association. He had been present at all but one meeting of the association and there had always been a very small attendance, even at the general meeting. However, when it was known that the rest , room subject was under discussion 1 there was a record attendance. Regarding the memorial hall, he felt certain that the district could not possibly raise the money needed for a hall similar to that for ■ which the plans were circulated. He stated that he had visited Levin recently, where he was told 'that the town had been "thrashed" to get £7000. If this was the case, how did Shannon expect to get funds for a hall which, according to reliable information, would cost at least £16,000. The district would have to find at least £8000. He was of the opinion that about £3000 was all that the district could raise, and the best plan for the committee was to consider a smaller hall, similar to _ that recently completed at Opiki, outiside the brick area-. Cr. B. Clayton stated that Cr." Sayer and himself had been' appointed by the council to meet both the Rest Room and Memorial Hall Committees to_ state the council's opinion and keep to it. This was to make one set of conveniences and so cut expenses. He expressed surprise that two of the ■council's representatives on the committee Went against their fel•low councillors, . It was going to be very hard if members were going to change right round. He felt that they were gding on their personal feelings too much. He was of the opinion that the war memorial hall would come. The fire brigade had raised over £1200 in a few weeks and he understood that the hall appeal would be •§pread over a much loger time. In . concltision, he said that it would be better to build the rest room now and incorporate it in the hall' project, and thus save the upkeep on two buildings. .Cr, Bateman, ih 'support of the Mayor 's motion, said that if one looked* back three years, it would be found that the then council fully supported the rest room scheme aird many had worked yery iiard- to kelp. raise? tke money.