LAKE FRONT QUESTION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 48, 19 October 1931, Page 4

LAKE FRONT QUESTION

ROBERT

KIRK.

(To the Editor). , ^

Sir,— ( o . j I. am,. sure .the -.whSle eommunity ,of Rotorua :,must .extend its . prof ound sympathies lind. icondblences „to the Mayof.and Rouncil f or ithe shameful way. tho .RatepayBxl? Assaciation. has treated them, especially as thdy.have placed themsdye^on , pedpstal 0f uprightness, strti^thess. and openness in their ,'dealing witli the ratepayers' ■ aifair s.Unfortunateiy ahd very reluc'taritly the -Ratepayers' Associ'atibn had to adopt the tactics oi the Mayor and GoUncil ih their -endeavbur to get -in first bh tHe ^present occasion. To be brief, I must-.draw ihe (jouheil's and rat.epayers' jattention to -eertain inatters so„as to . elikcidate the position. They .will -fimember the ditile episode .when: . the -Mayor, in company with;Mr. 'Hill, J thihk, -werit down to Wellington abo.ut.fWo years ago,, with the deliberafe intentiori of . inducing the. Minister of Lands io :gra.nt the Council the. . f raehold, bf a. -portion of the town square . opj).osif e ■ the Post

Ufiice for (the purpose of building s towhv haU, shops. and offices, Theii request was refused by the Minister, The first- intimation the ratepayers had of this intehiioh was through a Press Association report in one of qur- newspapers. A pefition was got up protesting against _ ihe spoiliation of this reserve for such a purpose. _ Again,- in the matter of the Council's reclamation bill, nothing was knowri Of this because the necessary legal requirement of publicity was done through a paper Kaving- a very small. circulation in the town, hence it was turned down by the Petitions Gommjttee on account of insufficient publicity. Further, in the Council's endeavour to raise the drainage loan,. a portion of the ratepayers were through stratagem mislead into. the belief they would have thq right to' subdivide fheir sections, which Was subsequent ly taken from them by the casfing vote of the Mayor, who, subsequent to the vote beirig "takeri never intimated that such Would be done, and def-ended his action-by sayihg "there had been no deception," a very ugly word to use/. In Saturday'.s "Post" the, Mayor and a few do.cile couneillors endeavoured to show that only a small portion of ihe ratepayers had taken aetion in .endeavouring to securq that our beautiful lake front freehold and reserves shoujd be seCured for all time fyom.the vulgar vandalism of commercial trickery, aiid this in the face of two largely signed petitions, the second pnp bejng- required to assure the Petitions Committee that a substaxitial portion of ratepayers and" residents. supported the request, and this was done iri a hurry or niany more signatures could have heen secure.d. One cbimcillor spoke of "a flag ,pf truce." It was the Council's flag not that of the Ratepayers' Association, and if such a small fraction of ratepayers sppported the scheme of retaining the whol© of the lake front for recreational and beautif-yihg -purposps, why did the. Council ,give way and in one of the Mayor's eiection pianks coneede the position of doing nothing in the way of leasing sections- for two years, and then only do.-so after submitting it to the yote-of the people. I am afraid the Council meeting last Frida-y was a gross bluff from end to end. The one poirit the Ratepayers' Association contended for Was the subniission of the whole mstter to the vote of the ratepayers as oppo^ed to the autocratic and domineering pctions of the Mayor in endeavouring to push ;his scheme through in spite of evejr-ybody except his own little qlique. Now sir, I am.writing this as a personal letter, :and in no sense on behalf of the Ratepayers' Association and for the reason as set forth in.part oft p. letter I wrote to the Mayor o'n July 21 last year, as follows : — "Dear Mr. Jackson,

"I am rnaking an ippersonal appeal t,o you as Mayor and a pyivate , citizdu^ • I tke^wo/d "ipipefsonal" as sigiiifyihg no material gaiii to be made by , me thropgh the advqncement of our town beyond the section I occupy where I hope to e'nd my days. I am beyond, thp threeTquafter-century mark so cannot hope to see that great advpncpm.ent wHich is, the inevitable of its liniqUe possessibns, many and varied. . "One of which is our lake froritage extendihg from Ohinemutu1 minus the Roman Catholic Church property, to the boundry, of the Government Reserve, and of course beyond. ,To take any part of.this frontage, for other purpose than that of beautifying and recreation ohjects (I might say this special reserve- is ,a sanctaufy for these ob jects and to ,encroapb, or in any way destroy. tbis purpose) would,. apipunt^o,^, desecration of our national endowmept. , "So I beg of you and, through yoti, opr Council, to reconsider your intehtion of taking that part adjoining ihe Roman Cathblic CHurch and cutting it up into building sections, t . whereon ■ boarding houses, flats or.ptiblie houses niight be built, tHereby destroying.-the very purpose for which . thia , lake frontage could be utilised and made a resqrye of beautiful gardens and grounds. "I am convince.d ybuf yision.of this future of Rotorua is similaf tb mine, whiqh foij ipe ..is.jib visualise a beautiful^ and Wbilderfui tbVV'h and district, a'ppealm'g in every Way to the enhaiiceniehf of health, jR'easure ah^ reef | patioMl ihstincfs desire • of humaiiity, and perhaps sbmetliihg higher. So I beg of you ahd the Cdtih- • cil to strive f bf the highest intefests of our people and avoid in every way desecrating our herita'gel ' "Thirik of Rotorua 25' or 50 years hencej lbng after we - have passed away^ so. Jet us design f o thave rio part ih a.mbvement which will in any way destroy q? disparage that future fpr QUf sucdessors. Ain I right in surmisang that . the. foundatioh . of.. your and. the. Council's idea to raise mbriey with which to, start the scheme is de: pendent on selling our birthright, in stead of a wise and resolute taking the bull by the horns and appealing to the «- *

people to rais*e,, as a beginning, a small ioaii, say £2000. "I am. sure, the- ratepayers wpuld realise that such expehditufe would aifd yefy greatly to the attractions and. qdyaaPem®nt °£ the town , and, so advahce their .owji personal ahd pecuniary interests. "'IjiifQrtqiiltely. in sEh|se, days .tfte jnoney element is the only one that appeals to 'an intelligent -eommunity, ins'tead , of something a little higher than BUch a sofdid outlook. I am sdrfy this letter is so longj but as we have discussed this matter on sev-: eral occasiori's I thought I would make this appeal to you on beHalf of the higher interests of our people. Is it in vaiii I do so?" "Yours sincerely • = (Signed) Robert Kirk." Thus I can assure my fellow rate--payers and residents that I know a great number ,qf you,. hold similar views of my own on this matter so I can pbsltively assure the Mayor and the docile members of the Council that the desife to "seeure any and all O.f oqr reserves from any and every sort of vandalism is the, earfiest. de-: Sire .and wish of a gre,at number of ; fesi,dentS,;.dnd.not as the Mayor nnd; Council think and assert,- thatjt is, a question of a fraction of ratepayers. — -I am, etc.