DAY'S BAY BUSH

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1525, 22 August 1912, Page 4

DAY'S BAY BUSH

1 FOR A PUBLIC DEMESNE. The matter of acquiring from tho We!/, lington Ferry Company, scenic reserve at Day's Bay—with the idea of setting tho area apart as a public demesne—was tho subject of a conference which took placo at the Town Hall yesterday morning between the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. D. M'Laren), Messrs. Frank Holdsworth; and H. W. Shortt (Mayors respectively of tho boroughs of Onslow and Eastbourne). As there was no specific offer in existence with regard to the laud in question, tho conference, which was a private one, was not able to deal with the suggestion other than discuss it in its general bearings. n Interviewed with regard to the delib. crations of the conference, Mr. M'Laren informed a representative ,of _ Tp Dominion that something definite in tho nature of an offer would require to be submitted before the City Council could go. thoroughly into the matter. In I\overnber, 1908, an offer to sell G23 acres was submitted to tho corporation by the Ferry Company, and negotiations wero carried on for "about three months.. The Government was asked for financial assistance, and also was ar.ked to .make a special valuation of the property. The Ferry Company asked .£lO per ncre.CGooo odd—and the Government assessed the value at .C 3788. "I brought tho mattor up at the meeting of the Finance Committee of tho City Council yesterday," said the Mayor, "but the committee decided to hold it over until additional information was available. Should a firm offer bn made, I have authority to call the Mayors of Uio suburban boroughs to another conference. Ah offer has since como in: to sell the bush land at the back of the aren now hold b? nib Ferry Company,, the price quoted being X 3 per acre, but this proposition would have to be very carefully gene into."