KELBURN BOY SCOUTS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 217, 7 June 1919, Page 3

KELBURN BOY SCOUTS

EVICTION FR OM CLUBHOUSE PROTEST MEETING . Some six years ago the Kelburn Boy Scouts were granted by the Government the use of a building near the Observatory, and it is now the intention of the Department of Internal Affairs to resume possession of tho building and convert it into a dwelling for a caretaker. The "building was originally a dwelling, and the Boy Scouts, when it was handed Over to thfem, altered it at their own eipenso into a very comfortable clubhouse. Now that the Scouts have received notico to quit a meeting of parents end others interested in tho welfare of tho Scouts was hold last evening in the olubhonse to decide what action should bo taken.

Tho Kelburn Scouts wero formed 111 September, 1909, and for over three year? held their meetings wherever they could By the end of 1912 sufflciont funds wore accumulated to erect ft small clubronm, and they applied for a site in the Observatory Eeserve,. eventually securing the building that has since heen their clubhouse. The total value of the alterations and repairs made by the Scouts was at least .£125. The -building to bo resumed by the Government, is said to bo 23 years old, and is is stated that it would cost £400 to convert it into a dwelling. The present membership of the Scouts is 55, and it is claiijied that some hundreds of boys have benefited _by the Scout training-during the past liino years.

At the meeting last .evening Mr. 51. Myers presided,' and there was a. large attendance of parents and Scouts. Tho chairman said that the Scoutmaster (Mr, Eric Lawson) received from the Department of, Internal Affairs a notice, dated June *2, to vacate tie premises within a month. The Government had tho legal right to give this notice and ten the Scouts out of the building, "but," said i the chairman, "in a matter of this kind there is something more besides the question of legal notice that had to be considered." He gave a brief hTstory of the SVouts, and stated that they deserved the support not only of the parents, but also of the residents and the Government. He stated that the Mayor, who was also the member for the district, would be able to tell them that during the recent influenza epidemic the Boy Scouts did notable work. He thought it whs not a fair thing that the Government should turn the boys out, and it was to protest against the action of the Government that the meeting was neld.

Mr. G. Wright moved: "That this meeting protests against the proposal to determine the lease of the Kelburn Boy Scouts' clubhouse, and that a deputation of parents and others in sympathy with tho protest wait upon the Minister of Internal Affairs -with a view to having the notico withdrawn." In speaking to the motion, Mr. Wright said it was tbe intention of the Govern"ment and the City Council to fence in five acres of the reserve from which the public was to ho excluded: the reserve was to be planted, and the clubhouse was to bo converted, into a dwellinghouse, at a co§t of .£4OO or ,£SOO, for the use of a caretaker, whose duty it would be to look after- the plantation. He thought it was an absurd proposal, and he hoped'a-s many us possible would join the deputation that would wait on the Minister. Tho motion was seconded-by Mr, I{. H. Webb, who thought the work of the Boy Scouts morited better qpnsideration. Captain Chudley asked if there was a written agreement. Scoutmaster Eric Lawson explained that there was an' agreement, and that the Government had tho right to deter mine the lease at a month's notice.

The chairman said that they assumed that the Government liad the ripht to determine the lease, and they wished to protest against the exercise, of this right. The Mayor (Sir. J. P. Luke) said that ho had a great admiration for the Boj Scouts in Kelburn. He extolled the work of the S'oouts during the fcpidemiii and on other occasions. He /stated that about a fortnight ago Mr. Darling and Mr. Lawson came to him about the possible eviction of the Scouts from their clubhouse, and' he undertook to see the Minister of Internal Affairs, and'did so. The file was produced,- and the matter gone into.. It was found that the Government was desirous that the City Council should take charge of five or six acres which were to be planted and treated as r. renerve for the residents. The Government did not intend to give the land to the city, but there was an agreement under which the Government would pay the city JE7O per annum'for looking after the reserve. The Minister pointed out to him that to put up a new house for a caretaker would mean the expenditure of about .£ISOO, while to convert the present building would be about ',£SOO. The City Council was not in h position' to offer assistance to the Boy Scouts of Wellington, • Mr. G. F. C'. Cnmpbell Baid that the Government desired to have a caretaker to look after the Observatory, which wa(> now subject to danger of fire, as thei* was' no one to look after it at night, and also to clear the place of bad characters who were said to frequent the locality. Several other speakers also declared in favour of the resolution, which was carried unanimously.