THE TOWN BELT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 240, 4 July 1919, Page 10

THE TOWN BELT

SOMETHING OF THE TRUST CONDITIONS

POWERS OF LEASING (By "X.") Councillor M. I l '. Luckio has given nonce uf motion hut consideration siiould lie given to tno proposal lo piuco public isciiuo.s in Wellington on the Town Bolt, and co remove tm-iii 1 rum ueiisely-eoii-tested areas in tlie city. Altiiuugu tho council lias not yet discussed liiu proposal tlie local branch ot tlio -New Zcawiui Mucutioilal Institute has given voice to iM opinions, wlncli may or may not no snared by those witli their vyes and minds on the iuturu of tine city. Assuming lor tlio salio of argument that Mere are schools in congested areas in Wellington unlay, it is next to impossible to conceive that those areas v> I* bo less, congested n quarter ot a ce> tt > hence. It may not in possible U> In closer than ai prwunt, but witu lUe march of all rapidly-growing cities it * not impossiblo to conceive tuat buK „* will bo higher and th« scnoo! building and grounds less desirable tor the Uaiii,,.r uf our youth than at present. It is oven possible to imagine areas tlwi are at present striOtly residential me • ing into business districts, and so lea\iug tho schools stnuutud among a nnut. of. business blocks. Most of tnose who havo lived a score of years or more> in Wellington can remember when Lourtonay Wβ was lined with unpretentious residences on both sidos and e'i°l> were a rarity. Look at it to-day. With such an experience- to guulo us theuinay,be a great deal to commend in Councillor LucKie'e idea, which is not ouo to l>o dismissed by tho parrot cries ol noot thinkers. "Hands otf tlio Town Belt ie a ci-y which has been manufactured to influence opinion the one way. It a lew more hands were laid on tho 'lown Belt it would not be such a gorsc-grown insure and object of opprobrium as it w to-day. Hands havo been laid ou the Town Bolt in past yeara with auci uot wholly without its advantages to We city. Tho Wellington CuUcge, the uoy-ernor-Gcnerol's residence, tho Victoria Collce, and the Hospital occupy portion* of the Town Belt, and these uses havo been of the utmost value iuid bciißlit to the city. Why, then, should not our State schools be so accommodated whert it is expedient to do so, under some arrangement with the Education Department which would leave tho citj; sclioo sites opon spaces for the recreation awl , pleasure of tno citizens for all time? I There aro fairly hazy ideas ot tho trust imposed upon the city in regard to Wellington's "garland of gorse," which, now that the topic has been raised, should not bo allowed to bo held by citizens any longer than is necessary. The deed by which the City Corporation holds tho Town. Belt and the conditions imposed by that deed wore pretty clearly set out in the judgment of tho Guio! Justice (Sir Hobert Stout) in tho caso tho Solicitor-General v. tho Corporation of- Wellington, heard before the lull Court on May 2, 1900, a caso which involved an injunction to prevent U.e Plaguo Hospital being erected on tho Town Ba'.t. In tho couwo of his judgment the Chief Justice said: "The ground relied on is that the Town Belt is held by the defendants in trust for purposes of public re-creation, and that tho erection of any building, not for purposes of p'ublio recreation, on any part of the Town Belt, is a breacll of trust. It ie necessary to 6tato how the Town Belt became vested in the defendants. By the Wellington City Keserves Act, 1871, the Superintendent of the Province of Wellington was authorised to grant to tho corporation of the city of Wellington tho Town Belt and other lands for purposes of public utility. In section i of this statute- it was assumed thai revenue would be derived from the lands set apart for 'public, utility,' but the revenues so obtained were specially appropriated to tho ornamentation and utilisation of tho lands to be granted and the formation of roads on the Town Belt, That a recreation ground may be maintained and revenues obtained from its uss has been decided in the United Sir William Don Company v. tho Kolunoor Company. Th« area of tho Bolt was stated in the Act just referred to as 1231 acres 2 roods' and 18 perches. By ■ an amending Act passed the next year tho Superintendent .was empowered to grant 166* acres 1 rood and 8 perches of tho Belt for various public purposes, viz., for a college, a lunatic asylum, a signal station, and a hospital. Purporting to act under tho powers conferred on him by the statute, cited, the Superintendent convoyed to the defendants on March 17, 1873, 1001 acres 1 rood and 2 perches of the Belt and other lands. Tho deed declared that the defendants were to hold the said area of the Town Beit 'upon trust,' subject to tho power of leas, ing mentioned in tho deed—'to be for ever hereafter used and appropriated as a publio recreation ground for the inhabitants of tho city of Wellington, in such manner as in and by rules and regulations to be from time to time made in that behalf by the corporation, shall be prescribed and directed.' The power of leasing to which tho area of the Belt was subject was for the 'defendants 'to demise and lease- ai'.l or any parts of tho lands hereby conveyed . . . for any term or number of years absolute, not exceeding 42 years, to take effect in possession and not in reversion, or by way of future interest, so that there be reserved in every such demise the best and most improved rent to bo payable during the continuance of the tenn thereby granted, Vhich may bo reasonably Had or gotten -for the same without taking any iinc, premium, or foregift, etc' It cannot be contended and was not contended by the defendants that erecting a building for a Plaguo Hospital was in compliance with the trusts of the deed. It was argued, however, that the defendants have power to lease the land* for building purposes and that it Is, therefore, no breach of trust to erect buildings, not for recreation purposes, on the Hands. If it bo that tho power ot teasing in tho deed is paramount to the 'trusts, that is, that the corporation has power to let all the lands if they so determine for 42 years on building leases, and to exclude tho public from tho uso of the Belt as a recreation ground, then it may bo necessary to determine whether this power of leasing has been valid)} , granted." ' _ . The Chief Justice and Mr. Justice Martin held that the corporation could not lease for any purpose inconsistent with the use of the whole of the Belt as a recreation land, but Mr. Justice Williams, Mr. Justice Connolly, and Mr. Justice .Edwards held that , thev could lease Town Belt lands for 42 yews provided they got tho best rent and did not ignore the trust for recreation purposes. That judgment meant that tho CityCorporation was empowered to Cease, oven. I for as long a term as 42 years, provided j tho terms of the trust were not altogether I ignored, i.e., parts of the Belt could be. ' leased and parts retained for recreation j purposes, which seems to leave the door I in tho ik'ed of trust wide- enough open ! to permit of tho erection of schools on ': tho, city's cow paddock.

6110 strong point in fnronr of a removal of the schools from congested areas to more breezy, open, and sunny spots is tho metamorphosis that is taking placo so rapidly in the character of our street traffic. Everything new in traffic tonds to speeding up, and that means increased danger in our streets. Schools should be remote, from eCoctric tram tracks and arterial' motor roads in a city, and the only locations offering such sanctuary aro on tho Town Belt, which lias been' preserved to us as an example of 1 what a dog-in-thc-nmiiger policy iiiny achieve, even in this ago of explosive talk and inaction on the subject of the city beautiful. Even if ten acres each were allotted to ten schools it would only mean 100 acres out of tho licit reserve, and what the school-children could accomplish in tlu< way of beautifying those grounds would add substantially to the aesthetic appoaarnco of the Belt and the city.