PROPOSAL APPROVED

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20732, 16 February 1939, Page 3

PROPOSAL APPROVED

APPLICATION FOR LOAN SITE QUESTION AGAIN SEVERAL (OBJECTIONS RAISED The proposal for a town hall for Hamilton was again before the Hamilton Borough Council last evening w’hen. after further lengthy discussion, during which several objections to the site were raised, it was decided by eight votes to four to make application to the Local Government Loans Board for £40,000 to build the ball on the Garden Place Hite. If application for the loan is successful a poll of ratepayers will then be necessary to sanction the raising of Die money. The discussion was introduced by a letter received from Ml E. J. Davey and others objecting to the proposed application.

“ As invited by an advertisement in the Waikato Times of January 28, we hereby object to the council's proposed application to the Local Government Loans Board for its sanction to Lhe borrowing of £4 0,000 for the purpose of providing a town hall,” stated the letter. “While there can be no reason against a poll of ratepayers deciding whether a town hall shall or shall not be provided, we understand that the £46,000 proposal includes payment to the Garden Place special rating area of £10,400, representing the value of the land on which it is proposed to erect the town hall. This land is part of the area which, during the whole time the Borough of Hamilton has been in existence, has been known as Garden Place, and is not owned by the special rating area, but is vested in the Mayor, councillors and burgesses of the borough of Hamilton. “Wrongful and Unjust Act” “As the area is owned by the whole of the people of Hamilton, and not by any small section of the people, there cannot be the slightest doubt that to pay to the special rating area the value of the land would be a wrongful and unjust act and, in effect, is asking the owners to pay some other person for the right to use their own land.” The letter was received. A letter from the Department of Internal Affairs was also received stating that Mr T. Mawson, the Government town-planning officer, had not had time to formulate a full report in time for the council’s meeting on the question of the most suitable site, but he recommended that if a block of land approximately 350 ft by 300 ft could be obtained in the Garden Place area, it undoubtedly was the best site for the town hall. Mr Mawson also considered that the council should take steps to acquire further land in the area to erect a public library, a museum and an art gallery, and thus make it a cultural centre.

"In accordance with the notice previously issued, I now move that the Hamilton Borough Council make application to the Local Government Loans Board for its sanction to the borrowing of £46,000 for the purpose of providing a town hall,” said the Mayor, Mr H. D. Caro, in opening the discussion. “You have all had a copy of the borough engineer’s report in which he details the facilities it is proposed to provide, the building and furnishings being estimated to cost £35,000. That report also deals with the question of the site and recommends as the most suitable the central block in Garden Place with a frontage of 1-20 ft to Alexandra Street extension, and a depth of 295 ft, with roadways all round, which Mr G. ‘Boyes values at £10,400. Reply to Objections “As a result of the advertisement calling for objections we have one only, from Mr E. J. Davey and others,” added Mr Caro. “It is based on the proposal that the whole borough should pay the special rating area for the value of the site. I cannot share the opinion that the course we propose is wrongful or unjust. After all, it is the work the special rating area is responsible for which is largely creating the value. If the land were sold or leased the objectionist would, no doubt, expect the persons who took it up to pay, and in such case the proceeds must benefit the special area. It., therefore, seems to me that if the majority of the ratepayers in the whole of the borough decide we are to proceed with the erection of a town hall there, the special rating area is entitled to receive from the whole borough the value of the site. Any other course would be depriving them of an asset to which they are both legally and morally entitled.”

In regard to the letter from the Department of Internal Affairs, he said that including the central block the council owned as a result of the empowering legislation, a total frontage of approximately 442 ft to the extension of Alexandra Street by a depth of approximately 300 ft, but out of this they had to provide access through to Anglesea Street. The original proposal was for two full-width streets on either side of the proposed site for the town hall. The position was complicated by the fact that the special rating area was carrying the burden of the excavation work and the land purchased In the expectation that when the whole of the transactions involved were completed the disposal of the lands available for other than streets purposes would largely, if not wholly, provide for the repayments of any expense which had been incurred. In view of this consideration it was impossible at this stage for the council to agree to the reservation of the bulk of the area between Anglesea and Alexandra Streets for civic purposes, much as they might like to do so. Advantages Well Known He thought, however, that in the event of the council finding on realisation that Hie funds available from other sales were sufficient to meet costs, that they mav be able to arrange to do something to retain a further area for other municipal buildings. The matter cm Id he further considered when the detailed report of Mr Mawson and the decision "f llm Loans Board were available. In the mean while it. would interest councillors to know that Mr -Mawson spent two

days in Hamilton examining various sites and proposals, and that he was pretty definite in stating that., subject to sufficient land being available, Garden Place would make an ideal civic centre and that the council should

'endeavour to provide there sites for a town hall, public library, museum, art gallery and similar buildings to meet the cultural requirements of the community.

“The advantages of the proposals have been fully set. out in the engineer's report,” continued Mr Caro. “We have, on numerous occasions, debated the merits of a number of sites and the pros and cons of varying the size of the proposed structure, and a?s all the debates have been fairly fully reported by the Waikato Times, and you are all well acquainted with the issues involved, it seems unnecessary for me to again cover the ground. 1 trust that the council will now formally adopt the resolution so that we can put the matter to the ratepayers as early as possible.” “Only an Ornament” “I feel it is my duty to vote against this proposal, as the town hall would only be an ornament and possibly a great liability,” said Mr J. E. Tidd. who added that he thought that the price of £10,400 for the Garden Place hill area was a very low figure. If oilier sections* realised only the same value the removal of the hill would lie a burden on the special rating area. The Waikato Winter Show Association was planning a building which would meet the full requirements of the community, and as their building would be adjacent to the proposed site, he thought the council would be well advised to co-operate with the association. The speaker also stated that travelling shows and amateur operatics would also be better catereci for in the near future when the proposed comprehensive alterations to one of the existing theatres were completed.

‘‘lt is beyond my comprehension how we are going to find £6O a week to pay for a town hall,” concluded Mr Tidd. Mr W. W. Dillicar agreed with the previous speaker’s remarks and thought that the town hall would eventually become a white elephant. He also was not sure whether the procedure of buying the land from the special rating area was a correct one, as it appeared to him that the council was buying and selling its own property. If the council had to buy off the special rating area he thought it should pay little more than the cost of the removal of the spoil contained in that area. The figure of £10,400 was nearly a third of the total cos’of the removal of all the spoil, and it looked as though the council w’ere out to assist the special rating area in every way possible. Time Not Opportune “I am not going to bicker about the site at this stage, but I am opposed to the expenditure at the present time of £46,000,” said Mr F. C. House. The speaker thought that the question should be deferred for at least two years when the council would have completed some of the large amount of work already on hand, and would also be in a better position to see how the situation from a national standpoint would affect the borough. Although he was against the proposal, Mr T. G. Reynolds said that he would vote for it as it would allow the question to go before the ratepayers and be settled in a democratic way. Tjie majority of the people in the town had been asking for a long time for a town hall, and the.council had had experts preparing reports on the questions of suitability of building and sites. These reports had been finalised, and although he agreed with Mr Tidd that within two or three years Hamilton would be w’ell provided in the way of halls he thought the people should have the opportunity of saying whether or not they wanted the town hall.

Mr H. M. Hammond did not think that it was the right time to launch out with an expenditure of this nature, especially as the need would not be so urgent following the building of the Waikato Winter Show Association's new hall and the reconditioning of the theatre. However, the council had definitely promised the ratepayers that it would submit a proposal to them and he thought that this proposal should be proceeded with. “Wilful Waste of Money” “I do not think that we want people from Wellington to tell us where to put a town hall in Hamilton,” commented Mr C. Lafferty, in objecting to the proposal. He added that the additional cost of £10,400 for land was a wilful waste of the ratepayers' money, particularly as it would be pushed away in the back of Garden Place, out of sight in a manner similar to that in which the municipal chambers had been hidden. Mr Lafferty also expressed the opinion that the

council should defer action for two Nears, as, with huge loan money for streets and gasworks improvements, the council had enough on its hands. “I think it is extraordinary that -some councillors are prepared to place a proposal before the ratepayers which they themselves do not favour,” said Mr W. R. Shattock, in indicating that he wholeheartedly supported the Mayor’s motion. “We have to look a long way ahead and visualise a far greater Hamilton than we can see at present. The town is a natural centre of a district of great potentialities and we have to provide now for the future.”

Although he stated that he would prefer some other site. Mr Shattock added that if all councillors wanted a town hall in their backyards the town would never have one. The speaker concluded by saying that if 'the council was going to put the matter to the ratepayers it should put forward a scheme in which it believed. Referring to the price of the section, Mr Shattock was of the opinion that the special rating area had been generous in agreeing to the proposed site. Duty to Ratepayers "Mr C. Croall, in supporting the motion, stated that tin* council had a duly to the rnlepayers, and that duty was to give them the opportunity of voting on the question. lie visualised Hamilton making rapid cultural pro-gi-ess in the ne\l few years, and the provision of a town hall would he of greal assistance in Ih .I direction. ’This question has been before Ih • council for six or eight years, and past mayors have prom : ><M ihal s.imellrm: WHiil.J be done." si d Mr 11. 1 1. Cam. in closing lhe debare. “Tlnr* is lhe been formulated." The speaker did not think that the

Waikato Winter Show Association's scheme affected the position in any way, and in any case, if their present } buildings were any criterion, a hall j comprised mostly of iron would not be a credit to Hamilton. The council did not wish to cater for travelling shows, but the town hall would be for the people of Hamilton, and for the people of Hamilton alone. Referring to the £6O a week mentioned by Mr Tidd. Mr Caro stated that he could not see where a cost of £3OOO a year would be involved. Sinking fund and interest rates would amount to only about £I4OO a year. Amenities Justifiably Expected In reply to Mr Lafferty, Mr Caro said that the council did not wish to secure an expert from Wellington, as it thought its own judgment was sufficient, but a letter had been received from ratepayers asking the council to secure that advice and it had done so. If the policy of deferring the matter for still another two years was adopted finality might never be reached, and a golden opportunity of placing the : building on such a suitable site would : lie lost. Town halls in other pro- j vincial towns not as big as Hamilton had proved great social and financial successes, and surely Hamilton was not going to lag behind in such an im • porlant matler. The people justifi- 1 ably expected such amenities lo be provided. (in I lie Mayor's motion be : ng put to t tie meeting. Messrs Caro. Findlay. Hammond. Reynolds. McCaw. Shat- j lock. W. M. i ili ll and Cl-oall Voted f..c i Hie motion, while Messrs House. Tidd. Uillicar and Lafferty voted against it.