PLANS OF MASTERTON TRUST

Grey River Argus, 13 October 1948, Page 8

PLANS OF MASTERTON TRUST

(Special to “Argus”) WELLINGTON, Oct. 12. Plans of the Masterton Licensing Trust were outlined in the first annual report for the year ended March 31, presented in the House of Representatives. In the report, the trustees express the realisation of their responsibility not onty to the electors of the trust but to the whole of New Zealand in their position as the first administrators of a licensing trust wholly elected by the people of the district. While fully conscious that they were in duty bound to improve accommodation, they were quite clear that their first duty was to provide proper facilities for the purchase of liquor, the trustees said. Accommodation had been discussed as a subject of major importance second only to liquor sales because of the imperative need for creating at the earliest possible opportunity a source of revenue for the trust. Detailed Plans The detailed plans are:— The immediate opening of two bottle stores. (These are now operating). The opening of first-class bars, lounges and amenities at the Cosy and the northery approach sites, the work to take 15 months, providing materials are available. A first-class residential hotel on the Empire site with full bar and lounge facilities for guests, and possible" extension to the public as soon as materials are available. The renovation and modernisation of the Midland Hotel, including the installation of bar facilities as necessary. The erection of a first-class hotel on the northern approach site in conjunction with the bar and lounge unit Priority will be given to the works in that order. The trustees found that as a result of the earthquake-wrecked state of the available buildings, there was none suitable for the trust’s operations and fit for immediate occupation without dispossessing the existing occupants.