AID TO PLUNKET SOCIETY.

Shannon News, 11 June 1929, Page 2

AID TO PLUNKET SOCIETY.

COUNTY GRANT TO LEVIN BRANCH REDUCED TO £7 10/-. An application from the Levin branch of the Plunket Society for a grant to its funds came before the Horowhenua County Council on Saturday. Cr Catley moved that the sum of £lO be voted, as was done in previous years.

Cr. Gimblett, in seconding, the motion, said he was entirely in sympathy with the application, but there was a limit to what the Council could go. Instead of granting money to the W.E.A., he would rather distribute it to the various branches Of the Plunket Society in the County. The Chairman: We are not discussing that.

ICr. Jensen: How many branches of the Plunket Society are there in the County? The Chairman: The Levin branch, with Shannon as a sub-branch; and the Otaki branch, with Waikanae as a sub-branch.

Cr. Jensen: It is only a matter of time when the other branch may ask for a grant. Can we extend these grants to £2O? It is not fair always to give to the one branch and not the other.

The Chairman: We have no application from Otaki.

Cr. Ryder moved, as an amendment, that the Council grant £2O to bo divided among the Plunket Society’s branches in the district.

The Chairman: We have no application from the others. I am connected with the Waikanae sub-branch, and we have no intention of applying, as .we are carrying on quite well without it. What Otaki may do, I cannot say. ICr Gimblett: Would the granting,of £2O over the whole County strain our unauthorised expenditure? The Chairman: It is beginning to creep a bit. Cr. Bryant moved, as a further amendment, that the grant to the Levin branch be reduced to $7 10s, He explained that he was moving in this direction in case the Otaki branch should makq an application. The chairman remarked that grants had been made to the Rest Rooms at Levin and Otaki, but these weie not recurring grants. The vote to the Plunket Society had become an annual affair. The Council was not prepared to mortgage its unauthorised expenditure year after year to various societies. He would like to see this matter settled.

Cr. Colquhour. seconded Cr. Bryant’s amendment. He stated that the Council could not be considered a charitable aid institution.

The amendment to grant £7 10s to the Levin branch was carried. . Crs. Catley and Gimblett voted against the amendment.