Playford Park's "Dead End" Streets Discussed

Chronicle (Levin), 16 August 1949, Page 4

Playford Park's "Dead End" Streets Discussed

1 - / The extension of George Street so as to give direct access to ihe a iixotor camp at Playford Park, us ; suggested originally by Cr. A. W." j Parton at a recent meeting of the j L.evin Borough Couneil, agam came ] before last night's meeting mf the i rouncil. 4 ■ A works pommittee recommen- 1 dation was. that no steps be taken ' ^owards the extension of George * Street, but ' that an extension be ■ made to Quinn's Road at a reduced width of 50 feet to link up with • vhe extreme end of the northern ^ subdivisional street through the , estate. • • : While agreeing to the latter sug- i gestion on the grounds that he was m favdur of doing away with as nany as possible of the "dead end" streets in the localiGy, Cr, Parton strongly condemned any move to iXop the suggested extension of George Street. At the moment there vas still no direct access to the motor .camp ancjran extension of George Street would. stiike straight hto the car park , area. he said. •We' have always hteu teid that, ,ve -must have vision and my plan Aas certainly got that. We must ook ahead." The Mayor, Mr. H. B. Burdekin, h moving the - works committees recommendation, said that Cr. Paron had been deputised to see if there was some feasibie way in mch a realignment of . George jtreet could be made to bring .oout its extension into the. rea. In view of u'rgent representaticns by the borough solicitors and land agents, who had people .wcuung txie sections, it was decided to eall a special meeting of .he works committee". The chair,.nan of the committee, Cr. W. Teltord, had been indisposed and unable to attend and on nis suggestion the meeting was transferred to his home. Every endeavour had been made to locate Cr, Parton and advise him of the meeting, but he could not be contacted. The borough solicitor, Mr. I. S. Clark, and ourveyor, Mr. C. W. Foster, attended the meeting, but it was unfortunate that Cr. Parton was unable m be present. * At the meeting " it was decidea .hat any alteration such as that suggested in regard to George Street would mean alteration to ihe subdivisional sections, and the « whole j)lan would have to go bacs: S again to the Land Saies Court, causmg a hold up of Seveicc4 months. The eost of aomg with the bulb end road, woum, iu vvas decided, be too great' to warrant it. Tne a.ternative of extending Quinn's Road had been suggested by Cr. Telford. Opposing the motion in regard to going no furtnor with George Street, Cr. Parton said that he had oeen called away from Levin on vhe day of the special meetmg, but nad been back late in the ai.ernoon. He was glad the committee nad considered the extension of Quinn's Road, but he said n was vital that George Stfeet also bc continued. Plan Not Faulted. Producing a large -paan incorporating his suggestion, Cr. Parton said that he had spent a great deal of time- on it. and that he had shown it to Mr. Foster, who had not been able to find any fault with .t and had in fact been impressed.1 He was prepared to give facts and ttgures showing that the plan he had in mind could be implemented at less cost and give the borough a better return. There would be two chains less road to put down, while two extra sections would be made available and- the sections in the subdivision would still be the same size as before. Briefly i't was orought about by running the proposed two main streets in the subdivision north and south instead of east and west. Cr. Parton also suggested that much finance could be saved by dispensing with the services of land agents. The borough could handle the selling of the sections itself, as he claimed other borough 'councils had done. He also instanced Wellington City Couneil which, he said, had sold sections from the council's offi.ee. Commissions and legal expenses would run into £1800 and he: could not see why this ixpense could not be cut in half. "Why cail in agents to sell our land," he added. Cr. Parton concluded by asking that the couneil hold an urgent special meeting to consider the whole proposition. He had given up a lot of tinae to the work and thought that more considieration should be given it. The Mayor said that this was not a matter that could be settled in five minutes and he would like to see the couneil go into it fully. The council's main concern was to give those who would use Playford Park in years to come a worthwhile heritage. The best plan had to be found and it might be that Cr. Parton had a better scheme. He would like to- see all the facts and figures. *" Supporting Cr. Parton, Cr. R. S. Antcliff said it -was the first he ■ nad heard of an alternative plan . and froniCr. Parton's eloquence he ' was convinced that his suggestions • had a certain amount qf merit. He > also thought that the Playford 1 Park Board should have discussed it rather than the works com- 1 mittee. . j "No Jiggery Pokery." i "There has been no jiggery i pokery about this," said Mr. Bur- ] dekin, "It has all been perfectly i regular. The matter was not one : for the domain board as a roading ' seheme was involved. The works J committee dealt with all matters of subdivisional- roading. Couneil money was at stake." . There was . no suggestion of i "jiggery pokery," said Cr. Antcliff, J'

but as he understood it it was at a meeting of the Playford Park Domain Board, chaired by the deputy mayor, that the matter was referred to Cr. Parton. Mr. Burdekin said that according to the minutes, as compiled by the town clerk, it was the works committee and in any case it was the works committee's task. Cr. D. J. Sweetzer said he thought that the couneil should go further into the two plans. It could not be done that night and a special meet ing seemed necessary. Cr. Parton had been specifically asked to investigate the matter and bring down a proposal, and the V matter should not have been » gone on with in his absence, said Cr. R. A. Frederikson. "He alone had the full information. Whether a councillor is appointed or a subcommittee set up, any recommendations should be heard. Without Cr. Parton there' should have been tio special meeting." Cr. Frederikson added that he did not think such meetings should be held in private' resideiices even though a souncillor was ill. "Surely the business of the borough is not so urgent that it has to be done in a private house." ' After further di-scussion it was decided that a special meeting of the couneil would be held on Monday night to discuss the whole question, "