THE TAY-STREET DIVERSION.

Southland Times, Issue 1821, 21 November 1873, Page 3

THE TAY-STREET DIVERSION.

A moderately Well-attended meeting of citizens was held in the Council Hall eji "Wednesday evening to consider the advisability of diverting the western end of Tay-street into the form of a crepcent. His Worship the Mayor opened the meeting precisely at 8 o'clock, briefly stating its object, and saving that he had called it in accordance with a requisition sent him by a number of gentlemen who were desirous of further and more fully considering the question of transforming the western end of Tay-street into a crescent.

On the motion of Mr M'Ewan, seconded by Mr T. Perkins, Mr J. T. Martin, as being a thoroughly disinterested party, wne voted to the chair; but as there wore only a few persons present, it waß agreed to defer business for a quarter of an hour iv order to give the citizens time to come together. After waiting the appointed time, the chairman opened the proceedings, when Mr Cuthbertson addressed the meeting, observing that he might say at once that he waß decidedly against the proposed diversion of the western end of Tay-Btreet into a crescent ; but be was well aware that some were in favor of the proposed change. In 1804, a certain block of land had been Ret atide by the Government for Provincial Government buildings, and that block was bounded on the south by Tay-street, on the west by Leven-street, on the north by Eskfclreet, and on the east by Dee-street. r J he buildings which had been erected on that block would not, according to Mr Brunton's report, be of use for any length of time, and accordingly a plan had been prepared laying the block down in squares, and allowing the present buildings to stand, but in the meantime

prowding accommodation for the Custom House and the Supreme Court, and the , Assembly had voted £5,000 with the in-' I tcntion that it should be expended on the s execution of that scheme. The floverns ment were willing to adhere to that plan, ■ but a elm litre such as was now advocated in the prc-pc'SPd crescent would probably 1 lend to a modification of that plan • altogether. The record map showed that Tay street is continued in a straight line to Leven-street, and it was proposed to divert the course of Tay-street into a crescent-shape, and reduce it to the same width as Leven street. It was further intended to divide the ground behind the proposed crescent into sections, and to offer them for sale, and to expend some { of the money on public buildings in the town. A resolution granting this had been passed in the Provincial Council, but it was not in the power of the Provincial Government to do so. If they wanted to divert the street they would have to go to the General Assembly, and get an Act passed for the purpose, and then it could be done. A Crown grant had been given for the land before, and he could not conceive how a Crown grant could be given twice without an Act cf the Assembly. If they pursued the plan proposed they must wait for a year before the crescent could be made. Such delays and such differences amongst then selves would be an excuse with the Government for not expending the £5000 which had been voted for the benefit of Invercar^ill. If the crescent scheme was persisted in, it would involve at least a year's delay, and in any case delay was dangerous He was aware that in Mr Thomson's original plan something similar to the proposed crescent existed, but when Mr Thomson proposed that plan, Puni Creek ran into Tay-street. As soon as the diversion of the creek became a fact, the digression of the street was done away with. It had been said the crescent would add to the attractive appearance of the town, but it did not recommend itself to him as an improvement in that way He was inclined to regard it rather as an eye-sore and a blemish as compared with what the street would be if allowed to retain its present shape. Let it retain its present shape, and there was no doubt that at its western extremity there would, sooner or later, be built either a goods or passenger statiou. What possible advantage would the town as a whole derive from the proposed crescent ? Let them think no more about it, but let them go in for expending the £5000 granted by the Assembly, in the erection of a handsome block of buildings for public purposes. Some people seemed to think that the crescent would shelter an important part of the town from a great deal of boisterous weather, but he thought that a Tasinanian paling fence would suit the purpose equally as well. The • idea was absurd. He entirely disapproved of the whole scheme. Mr Cuthbertson then moved — "That in the opinion of this meeting it is inexpedient and undesirable thut Tay street at its western end should be diverted into a crescent." The motion was seconded by Mr 11. T. Ross, who said that he was absent wheu the crescent question was first mooted in the Municipal Council, and that he had never heard a word about it till it turned up in the Provincial Council. He thought there had been a want of openness ; in fact that-the/e bad been actual unfairness in the manner in which the subject was first dealt with by His Worship the Mayor, who was the prime projector of the schtme. He decidedly opposed the entire project, and wculd vote for preserving the uniformity of the town. Mr Jagger3 would vote against the motion. He did not think that the crescent would interfere with the uniformity of the town, or be in any sense ' a digression from the original plan. If ( they diverted Tay-street into a straight i thoroughfare, that would be a digression, for the crescent was marked out on the original map of tbe town, scarcely as ' wide as it was now intended to be, but still it was there palpably ; enough. Mr Eoss had accused Mr Lumsden of having acted unfairly in this matter, but he regarded the accusation as altogether groundless. Mr Lums- ' den, in the usual manner, put his motion in reference to the crescent scheme on the notice paper of the City Council, and i Mr Ross could easily have looked it up ' had he felt inclined to do so. Besides, '■ the proceedings of the Council were very generally reported in the newspapers, and therefore there could have been no ' secrecy or unfair dealing in the matter. Mr Lumsden did everything that was fair. He (Mr Lumsden) was accused of defipotism and so forth, but that was all " bunkum." He had probably done more good to the town thau any other man in it. He (Mr «J aggers) thought that a ■ crescent would be better than a straight - street, and he would accordingly vote against the motion. : Mr Matthews would vote for the motion, and said that what had been ' pointed out as a crescent on the supposed original record map was no crescent at all. Mr Thomson, when surveying the town, had found himself in a corner, and in indicating it on the map he seemed to have drawn one or two' lines just to show his notion of what should be done with the vacant Bpace. The present scheme did great credit to the imagination of its originator, but notwithstanding that he could not approve of it, and would accordingly oppose it and vote for the motion. Mr Osborne said he felt it to be his duty to tell them what he thought of the motion under discussion. He did not mean to Bay much — he simply stood as a citizen among them to record his earnest protest against the projected crescent scheme, which he characterised as unjust and injudicious. He cordially supported the motion. Mr Kingsland wished to record his protest against the proposed crescent. How was it possible, he asked, to sell a portion of the town which had been

already surveyed as a straight street ? Let them sell if they would, but the sections which they proposed selling would for years to come be a receptacle for unsightly things, and a place where smells other than sweet and savory would be generated. He did not admire such geometrical plans as were intended to be carried out in the proposed crescent, and he accordingly supported the motion. Mr Perkins rose to support the motion. He opposed the crescent Bc'ieme as being essentially and highly objectionable, and argued that the whole of the land would be required for public purposes. What had been said in reference to the original crescent as an argument iv favor of the proposed or.o did not apply. The town had been well laid out, and finally laid out, and i hey were neither wise for the present nor just to the future in attempting to alter ie now. |

Mr Lumsden said that lie had not intended to take any part in the discussion, but as he had been referred to by some ot the speakers in very peculiar language, he felt it necessary to say something. He utterly denied the accusation of an. fairness brought against him by M. 1 Rosa, and spoke at some length, and with considerable warmth, in vindication of his action in connection with the " whole matter of the crescent scheme, which he had always advocated, and which he still warmly supported. Mr Lu'usden, in the course of his remarks, made an uujusfc attack on Mr Cuthbertson, to whom, however, he afterwards made an unquali fied and public apology.

After some further discussion, the chairman put the motion to the meeting, and called for a show of handa, but some doubt prevailing as to the actual number held up, the chairman asked the meeting to divide, when the result was — For the motion, 27 ; against it, 39. The motion was accordingly lost, and the meeting separated at a little after 1 L o'clock.