A CATHEDRAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2816, 6 July 1916, Page 6

A CATHEDRAL

POSITION OF STRUCTURE DISCUSSED

GENERAL SYNOD'S-OPINION

, "That in view of tho great developttent' of Wellington during the. past, 20 ' ! years, a committee be appointed to con- * sider and report to next session of Synod on; (a) the question of the ultimate sito of the cathedral; '(b) the best method of : dealing with the Taraiiaki Street property now held by the' cathedral trustees. The oomniittee to have authority to obtain any necessary surveys and . valuations'of the present or proposed sites, 'the cost, of same to .be a chargc against the oathedral tnist. The committee to consist of: His Lordship tho Bishop, the Revs. A. .51. Johnson, W. iFancqurt, 'C. F. Askew. H'.' Watson, and Messrs. D. Anderson, W. J. Birch, 13. Baloombe Brown, fe., Wilberfoss, E. F. .Hiidfield,. J.-W. Henderson, G. E. Tolhurst, and the mover," was; a motion .moved'last'evening at a meeting of tho Anglican General Synod'by MivG.Shirtclifte. : '-.Mr. Shiitciliffe said, that the object was • to hurry on the : construction of the cathedral if possible. At the present rate it did not. look 'as if the cathedral would be started for the next 40 or 50 ' years. At present the trust was in a more of less moribund condition. £s the two acres in Taranaki Street were deteriorating in valuo they .were only earning one and a half to two per cent. Ho did not know if the site was bought for ' the purpose of erecting a cathedral thereon, and there was bound to bo a. divergence of opinion as to where the ■ structure should he .erected.- That was the primary question which had to be . considered. The taxation on the unim- ' proved value was very heavy, and the rentals they could hope to get would be • far too small. In the event of. Synod ; deciding that the cathedral should be erected elsewhere, it would bo wise to consider the sale of the: property 'and . the investment .of tho proceeds at at least 5 per cent. ' ,This would give a much better return - ,: than at present. He wished that , the committee should- be given full power to investigate tho present or any proposed site. Thel cost would not be lieavy, and it would be a small price to pay for having the project thoroughly considered. ' Mr. T. p. Martin expressed'the opinion that the committee should bo given, power to obtain the views of an architect on the subject. ■ ~. .Mr. Shirtcliffe accepted the nnd niovedthat after tho word "site" tha following bo added:—"And architect's opinion thereon." The. Bov. C. Askew said that it was necessary that the diocese should have--a building that was worthy of the church. Many people had felt it keenly that Wellington did not have a worthy and dignified edifice. In supporting, the: motion, Mr. Button said that he regretted that there was no proposal for raising : the necessary money : during tho coming year. Mr. John Martin observed that it was no use fixing a sito till tho money was available. He did not think- that a cathedral was wanted for another fifty years: ', Replying, Mr. Shirtcliffe said that at tho rate of progress Wellington had made 'during the hst twenty years there would bo no sites available in fifty years'time except at a prohibitve price. If the eite was fixed there would be a better chance of obtaining big donations. He was quite satisfied that funds would come in a 6 soon as a start was made.

The motion was carried unanimously.