The Southland Times. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1873.

Southland Times, Issue 1692, 21 January 1873, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1873.

The alienation of public reserves is a practice which appears to be becoming more and more frequent. Under one pretext or another lands reserved for public uses are diverted from the purposes for which they were originally set apart, and applied to others, which may or may not be good in themselves, but which were never contemplated when the reserves were mide. Ie may bo questioned whether in the case of reserves within the boundaries of townships such alterations can ever be made consistently with strict justice to those owners of property who have invested their money on the faith of the original plan being carried out. The value of property, it is obvious, may often be seriously affected by a change in the destination of a neighboring reserve, set apart it may be in the first instance for purposes of ornament and recreation, and subsequently devoted — as has been recently suggested should be done in Invercargill — to the more Utilitarian but certainly quite different object of a site for gas-works. Or to refer to another instance, not in this case a proposal, but an accomplished fact, we have often thought that the inhabitants of those town sections immediately opposite the high fence and lofty grand stand of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association's grounds, have just cause to consider themselves aggrieved by the manner in which that portion of the Town Belt has been applied to a purpose which, however excellent in itself, is certainly not that for which it was originally designed, and onethatcaunot,evenby thegreatest stretch of imagination, be described as either of a recreative or ornamental character The mischief in thi9 case may be past mending, until the lease runs out But .we trust that in future the Municipal Council will be careful in granting permission to societies or individuals to occupy the town reserves without first stipulating for such conditions as shall effectually prevent such an abuse as the fence in question, which, as it now stands, is little better than a public nuisance. The proposal of Mr Gejtevee, that the new gasworks should be erected on that part of the Town Belt opposite the Hospital, near the corner of Gala and Dee-streets, will not, we imagine, be listened to for a moment. The Municipal Council, as the law at present stands, h:is no power to devote the land to any such purpose, and it may be presumed that the sense of justice and propriety which prevails among its members will be sufficient to prevent any attempt to have the law altered. A suggestion has recently been made, emanating apparently from the offices of the Provincial Government in Dunedin, regarding the alienation of a portion of the block reserved for public buildings at the corner of Tay and Dee-streets, where the dilapidated wooden erections used for public offices now stand. Tiie necessity for new public buildings having apparently been forced on the notice of the Provincial authorities, it seems to have been decided that if the thing must be done, it had better be done as cheaply as possible. Accordingly a plan has been prepared, by which Tay-street is to I © coniinued in the shape of a crescent through the southern and western sides of this reserved block, cutting off about one-half of it, and running into Leven street. The roadway is to be a chain wide, the width of Tay street being two chains. It is proposed to lay off the ground on the south western side of the crescent as building sites, by the sale of which it is hoped sufficient funds will be raised to erect the public offices required on the remaining portion of the reserve, thus reduced to a triangular shape. With regard to the merits of the plan, apart from the question of alieniting the reserve, we can only say that it does not appear to possess a single redeeming feature. The appearance of Tay-street would be utterly destroyed by the mean and lane-like termination. The shelter from the south-west wind, which we . understand some persons expect tbe pro- j posed buildings would afford, and on which some stress has been laid, would not extend further than a few yards from the buildings themselves, if they were ever erected. On this point we have our doubts, as the ground proposed to be sold does not seem to be of a nature likely to tempt investors or speculators. The triangular block remaining for the public buildings could scarcely be dealt with in anyj manner which would not produce a confined and paltry effect, and the whole design would beutterly out of keeping wth the style of straight and wide thoroughfares in which the town baa been laid off, and on the pleasing effect of which strangers are frequently* known to remark. The most serious objection of all, however, appears to be to the alienation of the reserve at all for any such purpose. Now that this system of cutting up town reserves, aud selling them for this, that* and every purpose, has been entered upon, there is no saying where it will stop, unless a determined stand be. made agaiust it at once. The money for Government buildings should be provided by the Provincial and General Government Treasuries, in the proportion in which the buildings are required for the service of each respectively, and not raised by the sale of land which ought really to be regarded as "belonging to the town. For these reasonß we consider the plan sketched out br Mr Bauirroy, an ac- . count of which appeared in our last issue, ' to be very much superior to the one above , described. By Mr Bbuktoh's plan the

whole of the rectangular reserve is kept entire, fenced and kid down in grass, and possibly ornamental shrubs, while the public buildings oceuny the centre, forming h conspicuous and pleasing architectural feature, being designer! so as to afford the necessary accomiDodif ion in one block, under a single roof. We trust that our representatives will take some interest in the subject, and that the tendency shown by the authorities to consider that anything, however second-pate, will do foi 1 every town in the Province except Dunedin — a tendency of which we have had more than oue illustration since re- ! union — will not be allowed to assert itself in the decision arrived at with regard to this matter, to the detriment of iuver- ( cargill. I