SEAR ISLAND LEASE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 141, 11 December 1929, Page 15

SEAR ISLAND LEASE

AERO AND GOLF OFFER

REJECTED BY RIVER BOARD

LIVELY DISCUSSION

Again at its meeting last night the Hutt River Board decided to defer consideration of tenders for the lease of Gear Island. The decision was largely influenced by the fact that the election of a new board is to be held in January, and it was thought that at a public meeting to be called in connection with this the ratepayers would' give their definite opinion as to whether the Island should be used for aviation purposes or not.

Present at the meeting were the chairman (Mr. W. T. Strand), Messrs. F. S. Hewer, W. H. Smith, C. Gostelow, J. Mitchell, and the clerk (Mr. A. J. Gearing) Four tenders were received for the lease of the Island

The first was from Young Hoo and Young Ying, who offered £9 per acre for 19 acres, including the house on the ground.

The Shandon Golf Club offered £350 per annum plus rates for 63 acres. An offer of £200 per annum, plus rates, "was made by Mr. A. Lee for a five years' lease of approximately fortythree acres, including the building. A COMBINED OFFER.

Mr. A. W. Nisbet, honorary secretary of the Hutt Valley branch of the Wellington Aero Club, wrote enclosing a joint offer of a lease of the major portion of Gear Island, signed by the president of the Wellington Aero Club and the captain of the Shandon Golf Club. "In connection with the proposal that your board should subsidise the two clubs for improvements on a £ for & basis, I would point out that the intention is, in the event of this being agreed to, the qeustion of compensation for improvements effected would not arise at the termination of the lease. In view of the offer of the two clubs to spend between them approximately £3000 on permanent improvements to the board's property, I feel confident that their offers will receive very favourable consideration."

_ Then followed the actual tender, signed by the president of the Wellington Aero Club (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) and the captain of the Shandon Golf Club (Mr. G. H. A. Swan). "A little time ago, at the request of the Wellington Aero Club and the Shandon Golf Club, your board was good enough to defer the consideration of tenders for the lease of Gear Island This action on behalf of your board was the result of representations made as to the urgent and unexpected requirement by the Aero Club of a ground more suitable for the training of pilots than Bongotai. Tho signatories to this letter desire to express the appreciation of the Wellington Aero Club and the Shandon Golf Club of the public-spirit-ed action of your board in giving to these bodies an opportunity to tender for the lease of Gear Island. A meeting of representatives of the Aero Club and the Golf Club was held on 6th December, when the following resolution was passed:—'That a joint offer be made by the Wellington Aero Club and the Shandon Golf Club for tho lease from the Hutt River Board of the area of Gear Island appearing on the plan attached, at a rental of £700 per annum, plus rates, for a. term of ten years, the Aero Club to have the right to effect necessary improvements on its area in accordance with the requirements of the Director of Air Services. The expenditure by the Aero Club on such improvements, which are estimated to cost approximately £1500, to be borne equally by the Elver Board and the Aero Club. Improvements made by the Golf Club up to a similar amount to be subject to a like division of expenditure between the Eiver Board and the Golf Club. The improvements by the Golf Club to consist of the erection of a pavilion and the draining and clearing of the land.' "

"With reference to the improvements by the Golf Club, the letter continued, it was not anticipated that the money for this purpose would be required immediately; it would probably be spread in small amounts over a period of years. "We recognise that it is not desirable that other sports bodies.be excluded from the use of portions of Gear Island as their requirements may from time tb time necessitate, and we have therefore agreed to various areas being excluded from our lease for the purpose of making provision for such other bodies as may require them. With respect to the proposal that the Eiver Board meet half the expenditure for improvements, we desire to point out that the improvement work necessitated is all work which will be of great benefit to the board when it resumes the land on the termination of the lease should the lease not be renewed. These improvements will be in the nature of levelling and draining, and must materially increase the value of the board's property. . . Gear Island being the most suitable area near Wellington for the training of pilots, it is earnestly desired that your board will enable- the necessary part of the Island to be set aside on tho above terms for this national, public object."

CONTRARY TO PREVIOUS POLICY,

"Personally, I don't think we should consider that application for one moment," said Mr. C. Gostelow. "It is qui^e contrary to anything that the board has ever had in mind that the golf clubs and the aero club should practically collar the -whole of Gear Island." The board could, if it wished, sell the island for industrial purposes, or lease it on such terms as to obtain revenue that would wipe out all the rates on the district for ever. Moreover, because of the methods of finance used in the past and because of the royalties coming to the board, the rates should, with reasonable management, tend to decrease in the future. If in view of this probable decrease in rates the sale of the, island was not looked upon as important, the board should consider the island as a splendid chance for the borough-to establish a park which could be made one of the finest in New Zealand. That would certainly commend itself to the ratepayers. Unfortunately the time for that was not yet ripe, partly because the board's financial position would not permit it and partly because the sports bodies were not yet ready to take the matter up. The Shandon Golf Club and_ the Aero Club were exclusive bodies, for they,were beyond the reach of the average ratepayer. It would be wicked to hand over such an asset to the comparative few who were "able to participate in the activities of the two clubs. The Hutt Valley, if not now, would in a. few years be one of the most densely populated districts in New Zealand, and if they were to consider the experience of nearly every city in the world they would find that the aero grounds were away from the centre of population. 'Wing-Commander GrantPalion had stated in the Press that Bo^rtai WQ»ild be used as the commercial airport and Gear Island as a training ground. Mr. Gostelow said he could not look with equanimity on the prospect of young and probably reckless beginnwrs making mistakes in the Hutt Valley. There were acres and acres in the Wairarapa more suitable for training purposes. He moved that the eomained tender of the aero and golf clubs J>e not considered.

Mr. J. Mitchell at this stage asked Trhether the board should iiot so into

committee. The other members of tho board did not see any necessity for this, and the board continued in open meeting.

DANGER TO POPULATION. Mr. F. S. Hewer seconded tho motion. Ho was against tho handing over of tlie island to two sports bodies. Had other sports bodies been combined with the golf club he would have favoured granting them a lease. Had the golf club wanted the island for only five years with the possibility then of other sports bodies coming in he would also have ."-Toured a le,ase granted; but he could not support any handing over of the island to the aero club for ten years. He thought, with Mr. Gosttlow, that the vie of the island >>y learners would be dangerous. There was always a certain, amount of risk in a populous district like the Hutt, with its network of high tension wires, not only to the aero people but to innocent children and adults. A NATIONAL NECESSITY.

Vigorous opposition to the two previous speakers was expressed by Mr. W. H. Smith. He thought that aviation had been looked upon more as a sport than as a necessity to the country. WingrCommander Grant-Dalton had given it as his opinion that Gear Island was highly suitable for the training of pilots, and he for one was quite prepared to accept the opinion of the Director of Aviation in that regard. He did not think Mr. Gostelow was right in saying that an aviation ground should be at a distance from the city. That again was contrary to the opinion of Wing-Commander Grant-Dalton. If pilots were obliged to travel a distance from the city aviation would be hampered because numbers of people could only be got close to big centres. The training was done early in the morning or after the day's work, and a pilot in training needed only fifteen minutes a day in the air. It was impossible to go to Wairarapa just for that fifteen minutes. If the board rejected the aero club's offer it would bo shouldering a great responsibility. To his mind it would be equivalent tc the Wellington Harbour Board refusing the use of the Wellington Harbour to the British Navy. It was primarily from the national standpoint that he was interested in aviation. There was no question that it would be a necessity in the very near future, and he would be.very sorry if the board —a public body—put a spoke in the wheel of aviation. In the interests of Imperial aviation they should consider the offer, and he would gos as far as to say that they should even make some sacrifice in the matter. He was not prepared to say that the offer of the aero club was wholly acceptable, but at least .it was a basis for negotiation, and rather than throw it out they should seriously consider the question.

LEAVE IT TO RATEPAYERS?

"I am going to cut fresh ice," began Mr. J. Mitchell. He suggested that the question bo left to the ratepayers to decide at the coming election. They would decide whether the island should be (a) leased for grazing purposes for five years, (b) made into a park similar to Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens, (c) leased to the Aero and Golf Clubs for ten years. There would be no great expense attached to the taking of such a referendum.

Mr. Smith said that though the matter had been given considerable publicity in the , last few weeks, he had heard of no objections to the use of Gear Island for aviation.

Mr. Gostelow raised the point that tho late Minister of Defence had definitely told the board that it had no power to lease the island as an aerodrome. .If the island -svas the only suitable place for aviation, the Minister would have taken steps to overcome any such legal difficulties. Mr. Gostelow disagreed with Mr. Smith's statement that this matter was one of national importance. The club was purely a private one, and had no national importance whatever. It was not for the board to usurp the Government's functions. Also, was New Zealand ;i suitable place for the development of aviation?

The chairman expressed his pleasure .hat Mr. Mitchell had admitted the principle of the ratepayers themselves expressing their opinions on this very important matter. However, he was not prepared to say that it was necessary to take a poll for that purpose. The election of a new board in the near future would give the ratepayers an opportunity of expressing their views through the members they elected. In the nine years he had been chairman }f the board,"they had never held a public meeting, and he would now like the opportunity, with members, of addressing such a gathering. He was sure that the idea at first put forward liy Mr. Gostelow that the island should be commercialised, would be flatly turned down by the district.

Mr. Gostelow here pointed out that it was not his opinion that this should be dove, but merely a possible aspect of the question.

Continuing, Mr. Strand said that he did not think it had dawned upon the people of the district of what great national importance the question of aviation was. Concerning Mr. Wilford's attitude as stated by Mr. Gostelow, Mr. Strand said that that might.have been Mr. Wilford's personal view at the time, but in a telegram read at the last board meeting, he had asked that the matter should be reconsidered.

After further discussion, Mr. Strand asked the board whether .it would agree that tenders should be deferred till after the election.

To this Mr. Gostelow replied in the negative, saying that the board should not leave anything unfinished. He questioned the wisdom of making the Gear Island matter au issue at the election, for, after-all, its administration was only a sideline to the main purpose of a river board. He did not disagree with the proposal to decide by a referendum.

Mr. Strand agreed that there was common-senso in that. Ho favoured the shelving of tho matter until after the election, for the people would surely express their definite opinion at auy public meeting to be held in connection with the campaign. Mr. Mitchell's idea of a referendum was a good one, but he did not think that a referendum would be necessary.

Mr. Gostolow persisted in his motion not to consider the Aero and Golf Clubs' tender, and it was put to the meeting, and carried without dissent.

NO TENDEE ACCEPTED. Mr. Strand thought that they would be courting trouble if they turned one tender down and not the lot.

Mr. Smith moved that no tenders be accepted, and Mr. Strand seconded the motion pro forma. Mr. Gostelow said that he was sorry they had not settled the business that night, but he agreed that they ought not to accept tho other tenders—they were too low.

The motion was carried.