BREEZY MEETING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 809, 1 November 1929, Page 13

BREEZY MEETING

TE AROHA COUNCILLORS CRITICAL

BEAUTY AND TYPISTES (Special to THE SUX) TB AROHA, Today. The meeting of the Te Aroha Borough Council last evening was of a breezy nature, and on several occasions the Mayor. Mr. 11. Coulter, had to call members to order. Mr. W. C. Kennedy protested against an application for ;t building permit. He said Mr. Pease, a member of the council, who had done the work, was now applying for a permit two months after the building was finished. “If it had been any other builder ho would have been hung,” said Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Cotter remarked that the council was not acting fairly. ORDERED TO SIT DOWN A warm exchange of words followed and the Mayor called upon Mr. Cotter to withdraw his allegation. The meeting became noisy at this point and Mr. Cotter was ordered by the Mayor to resume his seat. The Mayor explained that Mr. Pease, in erecting a temporary shack, had quit© unwittingly broken the by-laws in neglecting to apply for a permit. He had rectified the error the moment it was brought to his notice. Mr. Cotter: Are the ratepayers to understand that in future it will only be necessary to plead ignorance when breaking the by-laws? The Mayor: That is rubbish. Mr. Pease’s application was eventually granted. The Mayor moved that Messrs. Jones and Adams, of Auckland, be appointed to build the proposed Town Hall for Te Aroha. The Mayor said it was now proposed to erect a three-storeyed building, at a cost of £12,500. A committee had already been deputed to engage the engineers mentioned, and he was merely submitting its decision to the council. Mr. Cotter asked the Mayor to explain why a local architect had been passed over in favour of Auckland men. “This is a serious matter,” he said. “Our local architect has many fine buildings to his credit and he should get the job. The money will be spent in the town, and we should help the local man.”

Mr. Hedge: We have had several applications for the position of architect for the Town Hall, but there was no application from the local man. Mr. Kennedy: He never had the opportunity. Mr. Smith: That is absolutely wrong. There is nothing in what you suggest. Mr. Kennedy: Can the Mayor say that the local architect was not passed over for political reasons? The Mayor: The ratepayers require no such assurance from me. They know that the council, in appointing Messrs. Jones and Adams, believes it is employing experts with a Dominion reputation. Mr. Kennedy raised another argument and there were more high words. Two were ordered to sit down. The council approved of the appointment of Messrs. Jones and Adams and deferred its decision to build the Town Hall until the plans had been further considered. Mr. Kennedy was on his feet again when the Mayor requested confirmation of the appointment of a typiste. Recalling that the applicants had been requested to send their portraits, Mr. Kennedy said: “This is a silly and unfair practice, which puts applicants to all sorts of trouble and expense. It serves no good purpose If the Borough Council is judging a beauty contest, portraits are quite all right. The Mayor: Does any other member wish to speak to this motion? Mr. Kennedy sat down and the meeting ended.