CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 280, 23 May 1912, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

OLD NEW PLYMOUTH. To the Editor. Sir, —The article by "The Antiquary" in your issue of May 22 re New Plymouth Town Belt or, as he terms it, "a vanished town belt," is about as full of inaccuracies as it is possible to be. In the first place Governor Fitzroy left Xew Zealand when it was a Crown Colony, he having taken his departure in 1840, after vetoing the award of Mr. Commissioner Spayne, and reduced the area of land to be owned by the settlers of the Plymouth Company to about 3500 acres, that is an area between Smart road on the east to Paritutu line on the west, and as far south as the back line of Frankley Park. The Belt land was given to those settlers who were turned off their lands at Mangaoraka and Waitara. It was not till 1853 that the Constitution was proclaimed by Governor Grey, when Provincial Councils were elected for local government and a general assembly was also elected. The incident regarding the making of so many of our reserves education reserves is of a more recent date, and was an effort on the part of the late Mr. Whitcombe. then Provincial Secretary, to retain the reserves for provincial purposes when the provinces were abolished. By Vogel's Centralisation Act the provinces were abolished, and all provincial reserves were taken over by the general Government. Unfortunately, these reserves included education reserves, and, therefore, his well-intentioned effort failed. You will see from the above that the Provincial Councils or Town Boards had nothing whatever to do with the loss of our Town Belt.—l am, etc., JOHN SKINNER.