BLOCK IX, CROMWELL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 646, 4 September 1874, Page 3

BLOCK IX, CROMWELL.

The first practical steps towards the settlement of the Block IX difficulty will take place this evening at the Town Council, when that body will be called upon to declare what they really intend t) do. As far as I can learn, a motion, of which notice was given last meeting will be brought forward by Council!* r Grant requesting the Council to reduce Melmore Terrace to an uniform width of 57 feet, and the portions so reduced in Blocks XXVII and IX respectively, be tacked on to and form part of the Section, and then that the same be pnt'np and sold. It is difficult to see how this proposal can have any injurious tendency, and it will be a duty incumbent upon those Councillors, who do not give it their earnest and warmest support to assign substantial reasons for the with-holding of the same. The motion not only aims at the preservation of Block IX, but also pays regard to the interests of those located on Block XXVII, and who have encroached upon the original surveyed line of road, and it will for ever establish the width of Melmore Terrace, and keep the Town compact. It may be ail very well for discontented and over zealous individuals to turn a deaf ear to every argument, and close their eyes to facts, or it may suit the whim and caprice of the isolated few, who have secured sections on the flat in the immediate vicinity of the Court-house to raise the cry of “ banish them, banish them,” but it will not suit the public, nor the better disposed and more thoughtful section of the community. It is a question generally asked, and with a deal of justice, “ if you expel the resi-

dents from Block IX, where do you intend them to go,” surely, not to erect their dwellings on seme matshy spot. Had timely warning been given of the proposed action, doubtless, numbers would have purchased land ou the before mentioned fiat, but they were allowed, and in fact, encouraged, through the apathetic indifference, both of the Provincial Government {and the Town Council to locate on Block IX. If the former were aware of the fact of the land being so occupied, and if they were not, it was the duty of the Council to have acquainted them—steps, not of a moderate, but of a decisive character should have been pursued, but having allowed the occupation to go on from year to year, increasing audincreasing, evinces a want of decision and is infereutially a leave to occupy. Will any of the opponents of the motion now under consideration tax their memories a little, for lam assured, on the most reliable authority, that the Municipal Council never accepted Block IX as a recreation reserve, but that they refused on the ground that a more suitable place could be found ; anil I challenge the production of the minute hook and correspondence of the Council, which will soon show whether this statement is correct or not. It is a happy circumstance that some of the then members are still living in Cromwell, and firmly maintain that this block never was accepted as a reserve ; be this as it may, it would be a most imprudent and selfish act to compel the occupants to settle elsewhere, as it is too well-known that desirable sections are not easily secured. There is another matter in considering the question that is worthy of reflection, and it is one which materially affects the position of some of our rulers, and it is the fact that not only the member for the Kawarau, ut many of the Cromwell Councillors are indebted for their political position to votes’recorded by residents of Block IX, who were assessed and placed upon the electoral roll for property upon this now celebrated block. The citizens of Cromwell have now taken the matter in hand, and the Councillors will do well to remember that the pledges exacted from them on tho hustings will ba borne in mind by the ratepayers who, with more courtesy than has of late been observed in this district, intend to forward the memorial for the selling of Block IX through tho Council to the Superintendent. That a diversity of opinion exists in the Council there can be no doubt ; but those Councillors who feel disposed to oppose the selling of Block IX, and the consequent narrowing of the street to a uniform width of 57ft. would do well to hear in mind that the memorial from tho citizens bears, with four excepticq3, the signatures of the ratepayers of Cromwell; and it will he a new era in local politics to find a locally-elected body acting in direct opposition to the express will of the'r constituents.