CAMBRIDGE DOMAIN BOARD.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2260, 4 January 1887, Page 2

CAMBRIDGE DOMAIN BOARD.

The board held their annual meeting in the Borough Council Office yesterday afternoon. Present: Messrs T. Wells, (chairman), J. Fisher, R. Kirkwood, E. Hewitt, and E. B. Walker. A letter was read from Mr Niland, asking to have allotment No. 21 transferred to Mr Stephen Ladder. Carried. A letter from Mr F. G. Brooks was read asking the board to request the Governor to grant a new lease of allotments No 8 (lately occupied by Mr W. Reid) to Mr Jabez Mynott. It was resolved that the board request the Governor to grant a new lease for the unexpired term of the old one. Messrs Lewis and Simpson wrote :— "We have the honour of asking your board to accept a donation from us in the shape of two garden seats, and hope they will prove of service to our townspeople on visiting the domain grounds." It was resolved that a hearty vote of thanks be tendered .to Messrs Lewis and Simpson for their very handsome present of the garden seats. A letter from the Crown Lands office, Wellington, was read, to the chairman of the Cambridge Domain Board, as follows :—" Sir,—l am directed to transmit to yon a copy of a communication which has been -addressed to the Minister of Lands by bis Worship the Mayor of Cambridge, and to ask you to be good enough to inform me if the present Domain Board will be willing to resign the control of the Public Domain to the Borough of Cambridge, in order that the Borough Council may receive a delegation in respect of them under the Public Domains Act, 1881.— Yours, &c, H. J. H. Elliott." With this was a copy of the letter sent by Mr Gwynneth to the hon. the Minister of Lands as follows :— "Sir,—l have the honour to bring under your notice the anomalous position of the Cambridge Borough Council in reference to the Domain lands within the borough, they having no control whatever over them, the existing Cambridge Public Domain Board having no connection with the Borough Council, but have charge of all Domain lands within the borough ; also of all Domain lands on the west, or south, side of the river, which are in the Pukekura Highway District, and under the control of the Waipa Council. I have to request that you will be pleased to appoint the Borough Council of Cambridge as Municipal Domain Board for for the management of domain lands within the borough, leaving the present domain board the control of all the domain lands outside the borough. Hoping you maybe pleased to do so at as an early a date as possible, the Tr.nnicapal council being in my opinion the proper body to have charge of the domain board,—l have etc., John Gwynneth, Mayor. oth December, ISSO. The Clerkf also read the chairman's letter to the *Mayor, and the reply, both of which have been published in a previous issue. The chairman said ;that when he wrote to the mayor, asking the three questions to which they had re ceived such an ungracious reply, he was perfectly aware that, as their chairman, he had not received any communication, but ho did not think that any public body would try to usurp the functions of another public body, without giving that body notice, and he concluded that a letter must have miscarried. He was very much pained to receive a reply, couched in such terms as to totally ignore the etiquette usually made use of between public bodies. After a long discussion, in which Mr Hewitt made use of some rather strong language, the Chaim an proposed that the board, although they do not consider the change in the administration asked for desirable in the public interest, they are prepared to throw the responsibility upon the borough council, as the representatives of the burgesses, and providing Government guarantee that the borough council will take over the board's overdraft and other liabilities (as per statement enclosed), and contract, the members of the board will resign to enable the proposed change to be given effect to. This was seconded by Mr R. Kirkwood and carried unanimously. It was resolved to forward a copy of the whole of the correspondence, together with the above resolution, to the Minister for Crown Lands. The balance - sheet showed a debit against Cambridge East of £434 7s Gd, £2-18 10s lid beiiig bank overdraft, and £185 lGs 7d due to Cambridge West. In Cambridge East the rents were £150 8s lid, and the expenditure £260 3s 3d. In Cambridge West the rents realised £1)1 7s Id, and the expenditure £4!) 2s fid. A few small accounts were passed for payment. Mr E. B. Walker proposed Mr Wells as chairman fer the ensuing year (if they were allowed to exist that long), wliich was seconded by Mr Kirkwood and carried unanimously. Mr Wells thanked the members for their continued confidence, and the meeting separated.