CITY LEASES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1690, 5 March 1913, Page 8

CITY LEASES.

THE ASSOCIATION MEETS. GLASGOW LEASES. NOT KNOWN IN SCOTLAND. The annual meeting of the Wellington Leaseholders' Association (formed in October, 1911) was ac-ld in the Chamber of Coiiimi-rt-e afternoon. Mr. L. O. H. Mr.;.;) over an attendance ol about a i.u/.cii members, heveral apolo-

gies ior au.-ence were received from members. a number of whom expressed the opinion tluit future annual meetings snould be held in the evening.

Tile annual report (already published) and the balance-sneet were adopted.

In moving the adoption of the report, Mr. Tripp indicated the objects of the association, which had been formed as a result of the fright which leaseholders had received when the arbitrators adjusted the leases of the Hunter Street Block. .Many people might ask how it was that a iarge body of business men haiLconie to take up'these rentals, and hail only found out, alter a number of years, that the rental was unfair. The leaseholders had certainly not been able to see the rocks ahead. But there was some excuse as New Zealand was the first country to use a lease of this nature, and was prac-. tically the only State in Australia using it, if the Northern Territory were excepted. 'l'iie conditions of the lease in use there were in some respects worse than the one here. Mr. Tripp then referred to the opinion of the umpire in the Hunter Street Block, in suggesting that a case should tie stated lor the Court of Appeal. That had" been done in connection with the D.i.C. leases, and the committee had since had Mr. Skerrett's views on the effect of the judgment. it had been pointed out that, there was room for an extraordinary dilfeJenca of opinion between the arbitrators, and that it was almost impossible for them to do this work in a. satisfactory manner. This alonfe made the lease a very unsatisfactory one. Many of the leases went up to auction. In such cases nothing was allowed for risk of competition, and there was nothing to"prevent a firm in Australia or elsewhere coming to New Zealand and running up the price to secure the goodwill of the business on the site. Mr. 'l'ripp thought that it must be quite clear to the corporation, as well as to the association, that if the city were to go ahead, some lease would have to be invented that was fair to all parties: olhenvitu tenants would not build in the future as they hud done in the past. Several suggested leases were next referred to by Mr. Tripp, who considered that it ought to be possible ' to find some scheme of partnership between landlord and tenant. The land belonged to the ebi poration, and the building to the tenant, and it should be possible to say what was a fair rental. ' Having found that out, surely it ought to be easy enough to say how Inuch was to go to the tenant, and how much to the corporation. In his opinion a commission ought to be appointed to inquire into, the question—a commission of two men something similar to the Public Trust Commission. That would be a leading business" man and a leading lawyer liot connected -with the parties. The matter was an important one. and of widespread interest, all'eetiiig not only , the local parties, but all public: bodies in New Zealand.' The reason why the question had not yet been raised in other places was bccause they had not yet had the same trouble in regard to values.

On Ihe question of "Glasgow" leases, Mr. Tripp said that he had always been under the impression that the lease hero was of the form used in' Glasgow. On this account he wrote to the Town Clerk of Glasgow to gain some information about them. The reply was that tho city of Glasgow entered into no lease of tho nature referred to. Thinking that tho name might havfc arisen in connection with soniD private leases, Mr. Tripp next wrote to a leading legal firm in Glasgow seeking information. Tile reply was again to the effect that there was no Icaso of that nature in use in Glasgow, and, moreover, tlio firm stated that they would bo surprised to find such a lease in force anytfhere in Scotland. An indication of the similarity of the leases in the Northern Territory to those here was given by Mr. Tripp, and, after referring to the systeai in England, he touched upon the coming revaluation of the city. He advised members of the association, when tho new values came in, to scrutinize them carefully, because during the last: six years the valuo of land in Wellington had undoubtedly depreciated very considerably, in his opinion. It followed that if the cost of building went up, the value of land must go down, unless there was any increased income io lxj derived therefrom. He did not think there was any such increase.

jtr. .Tolin Hutchiwon. who seconded, the motion for the adoption. of the report, ! referred to the matter in which the question had generally been handled by the press, and did not think leaseholders had any reason to fear anything in connection therewith for various reasons which lie mentioned. The press, he said, lmd recognised that, there was something in the leases that needed alteration. Mr. Hutcheson approved the appointment of a commission as outlined by the chairman, and thought that, when the committee of the association was privileged to meet the committee of the corporation to whom the matter had been referred, the.v could deal with this question and agree lipon some basis of st-ttling tlia matter in a manner that would be fair to tho parties, and which would at the same time protect th" interests of. the citizens.

Members of last year's committee were nil re-elected. They are: Messrs. ,T. B. Harcourt (Harcourt and Co.), L. 0. 11. Trinp: (ChnDinan, Skerrett, Trinp, and Blair). J. B. MacEwan (,T. B. MacEwan and Co., Ltd.). F. Townsend (Townsend and Paul, Ltd), W. H. S. Moorhouse. .Tohn Hutchesnn (Hutcheson, AVilson, and Co.), A. H. Miles (Murray. Roberts and Co., Ltd.), F. W. Haybittle (George Thomas and Co.), S.. Kirkcaldie (ICirkcaldio and Stains, Ltd.). Complimentary reference was made to the work of Mr. H. D. Vickery as secretary. Ho was re-elected.