"IN TRUE COLOURS"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 47, 17 October 1931, Page 5

"IN TRUE COLOURS"

RATIPAYERS' ASlSN COUNCIL TAKES EXCEPtioN / to BEfi'rioiN to ■ * ■ ' ~ nb'GSE" * ; •' * LAKH FR.ONT AREa' ' "r" :* ? "§trong jexcepHoiis4:» ihe action -gp? fhp - Rotorua" Ratepay er^VA^ sociatjon. in' petitioning^-^atfih- t ' ment to prohibit^ iiF^'" Jilrejserit * pouncil or gptf' other ' Council from usmg an area pf land adjac^ ent to-ihe lajce sh.ores,t for- oth^h . - tjian recreatjohal purposh's was j ii e*pi»essed by the Rot'o'rua Bpr* ; . ough Council yesterday at a ipec-' ,4 ial " meeting" caried* "to' ; coriii'dSf'A , what s\eps' should be tkkeh, ^'th combat the petition. 1 , f Gouncillors werfe^eS-spoken in ex-. pressing ihe opinion tfiat the'.'petitjbri represented a 'move * "by a miiloxity. section of the ratepayers to1 tie the hands of the Council and impose its wis'hes upori the greater' Wa jo'rity of the residents v of Rotorua not - repre^ sented by the Rafripayejrs'' Association. fhe Gouncil unanimously decided that a question of princlple at stake and bhat it should!'be!5c,epThsented when the petition comes before the- Local Bills " bpmmittee on Tuesday 6i n^xt weelc. rtl'he * I^Iayor (Mr. T.. Jackson) stated thathe would - be unable to proceed td WelTing|dnin ! prderi to state the Gouncil's eage!, *an'4 it was decided -that the-=Town . Glerk ■ (^r- W. A. McLean)* should 'Mnidji ; the matter in Mr. Jackson'^ stea'd.'5 ' Outlining to ^Coriricillors, the purpose of the meetmg, Mr. Jackson stated .that his ' first intimajkion of 'ihe • steps which had been taken by " Ratepayers' A'Ssocia'tibnfhaU been tfe press report of the lodgjng oi a petition signed by A. H. Foggin and 33, other members of 'tbe "AsSociation. This ^etitfon prayed Parliam'erilr^tji prohibit"'the pfesent Conricil or4 anjj other Council from leasirig for rejsi>dential purposes, Or using for ' any * other purposes than recreatiohab " 0. portion of land on the lake front,* originally laid out as a street'and which had later been cloSed oy a previous Council. . * .?.*• i* • r First Intimation Upon learning that this p'etRion had ' been lodged, Mrlt4ueks0n; stated that' he had immedihtely instructed-1 the clerk to -twrite to the Petitioris Cdm$ mittee'of the House " and 'ascerthin when the' pfetitib'n 'would he heard. tj: 'had- also been p'oihted 'dut, in ■- the course of this letter, that the first tn- " tiriiation the Council hafd had'tof bjie action of the Riatepayers' Assoeiatioh. had- been a newspaper report. - ' A "reply was Yfec'eived 'from the clerk of the Local Bilis GOmmittee'advjs'ing that the petition would be consfdered" by the Committee ori' Tuesday, :?Oct-

oDer ovf and as a result of fttrther correspondence, a copy of the petition had been obtained, and permission seciP«®4: ■fP'K f}?e Council to be represented -at the liearirig/- f ; ■ • ' 1 7"^ Continuirig, the Mayor stated that the first. statemont contained in, the petition, to the4 effbct- that tlie area ih" H&stipn Jiad originally jbeep laid 'btit as a street'," was "not" correet!'"' (Clie original Surivey map ' of the4 horough showed that the area had been definitely ' set .'aside for residential' ;J lpurj poses ahd the statement ,oTf ' the p'e- ) titioners that it had be.en Jaid down af a street,*' coultl therefore" not bfe suhstantiated.' , It was no'h u'ntil "sorrietime afterwards that, in order to obl tain control of the area, the Council at the time had had it proclainied a street. * >- No Foundation ^ As a member of the Couricil at thd Y | time these streets were closed, conk* [ tinued Mr. Jackson, he had' no recpK lection of any "question being raised as to the use to which the laiid would be put. The Council's whole. purposfe at the time had been the proelancratioji of the area as a street in order that the' Couiicil "might ob'tairi ftlll cbntrh'l laiid and be abl'e tb pbiain f^oiri it feVenue f or tiie lake frodt^deveiopaient. The p'etitioriersf ^stktemerit thaf no objecti'ons had beeh "raised at thp time because people were under the impression that lanff yras"itH>l- b'e used" for recreational pUrpoSes, had no foundation *in fact. ' "The most serious aspect of the position, 'hbWeyer, ' "is that if this^p^ tition is allowed to succeed, a minority section of the ratepayers will Have deterniiried fhe use to wliich' a piecfo of land w'ith' which tKe'whqle of th!e ratepayers of the borough* are coricerned, is to be put,v ' said Mr.4 Jackson. "That is a principle which the Council should more strenuquslV pp'pose." ' * ' ^ •Minority Section ' ' "The question. as. to* whether the Council favour's the leasirlg. o'f thjs area for residential purposds dpes not enter into the riiattei;, because -a de* firiite undertating was given^tjie 'ra'tepayers that during the life - offthe-pr'e-se'nt Council, no steps would be- tgkeh to lease these'" sections,"5' the 'Mdybr continued. "The' matter we ari cbncerned' about is that the •• e'lected re- ! prpsentatives o'f the riatepayers shbilld have the right to defermj|a Wbjvhht ' " use the land.is to be'puLl'lf th^re|s , a strq'ng divefgence 'of opiniPn in 'the borough as "to" this USe"; the peopje.'s elected represbritatives'jshoidd have the right to submit thV- ^'hbfe matter to the ratepayers for .their veri dicjb, rather than. allow the hands of this and future co'uricils Wbe'tied 'Sy a minority section which is able 'to pull strings and have its wisheS enforced." * - '' . Further Suport Cr. O. H. pblem"ari'*strongly supported. the Mayor's remarJcs.4 The Council was the .guardian of .the. people's rights -and it must resist any. effort to impbse tbe w'ishes of a minority section upjori; the niajority of the. ratepayers. If a 'portion of the eledtors desired the land kept for certainuses, they could make this an isriie at the nesft* elections "and" hrifig. forwardcandidates, who would carry oiit their ideas. .** * - . . , . ' " _ "I think the Ratepayers' Asstfciation has rather over-stepped the mark," said Cri N. M. Keane in. supporting the two previous speakers. "My main objection is to the principle of an outside 'body stepping in and trying to tie our hands. Other b.Qdies in the town might atteiiipt ; Ihe same thing. J think we should opP°se, on principle, any effort to interfere with the jurisdiction of the CouhciJ." * . (Continued on Page 6) , ,

"in true colours" Continued from Page 5 "Behind Our Backs" Cr. G. Urquhart stated that he was fully in accord with the views already expressed. He would go further, and suggest that the Council be represented in Wellington by the Mayor, when the petition came before the committee. "I am not surprised to find that these people have not reeognised the flag of truce we held out to them during the election," Cr. Urquhart added. "They have now come out in their true colours by going behind our backs, without even showing us the courtesy of letting us see the petition. ,1 feel further that if we are not represented before the Commit'flee, they may place the facts in other than their true light." Cr. L. J. Bayfeild: Will they be represented there? The Mayor: They will be well represented. Clerk to Give Evidence After some further discussion, the Mayor intimated that, for business reasons, he would be unable to advance the Council's case in person before the Committee, and suggested that the solicitor to the Municipal Association be supplied with the facts and asked to handle the matter. It was pointed out that a disadvantage in adopting this course would be that the Association's solicitor would not have the local knowledge of a member of the Council, and it was finally decided that the Town Clerk (Mr. W. A. McLean) should proceed to Wellington to give evidence before the Committee. While in Wellington, Mr. McLean is to interview a former Mayor of the town (Mr. J. N. McLean) who was chairman of the Publicity and Amusements Committee at the time the first negotiations in conjiection with the area took place. "Personally I do not think that any responsible Committee of the House could agree to a petition of this kind, but at the same time, we do not want to leave the matter to chance," remarked Mr. Jackson before closing the meeting. Cr. Urquhart : I have no doubt the petition will .be blown out. I have been before several of these Committees and it is jolly hard to get one through. It only needs officia! opposition to stop it.