C.1.
"Military"
1
Governor
53654/39
2
conf. (2)
30.1.39.
Proposes removal of barracks and other buildings
in central district of Victoria and on Victoria peak
to a less valuable site.
that
The Governor states/for some time past he
has been discussing informally with the local
military authorities the possibility of removing the
barracks, etc. occupied by the Infantry Battalion
stationed in the central district of Victoria and on
Victoria peak to a less valuable site away from the
centre of the city. The effect would be to render
a large tract of land in the centre of Victoria
available for civil development. The provisional
areas in question occupied by the Military are shaded
pink on the accompanying map.
The proposal is that the Military should
surrender this land in return for the grant of a new
site elsewhere on the island: the Colonial Government
will have to bear the cost of site formation, of the
buildings, access roads, anti-Malaria work and water
supplies for the new site, subject to an agreed
maximum total cost. The estimated cost of the scheme
to the Colonial Government is about $5,000,000, against
which the Governor states an equivalent sum might be
realised by the sale of the land surrendered, though
this would probably be spread over a number of years.
Both the Army Council and the Executive Council have
apparently expressed their agreement in principle, and
the Governor requests approval to go ahead with the
negotiations.
There would seem to be considerable
advantages in the scheme whereby such a large area
would become available for commercial development and
town re-planning, etc., and the Governor considers
that these advantages would outweigh any monetary loss
which