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present over the former proposals is that, if the site at
present in mind is finally decided upon, the lands in
question will be available within two or three years instead
of in from five to ten years, as was anticipated under the
1924 plan; in fact the Military Authorities are prepared
immediately to give up the Murray parade ground provided that
it is to be used as a site for the new Volunteer Headquarters.
The possibility of the early meeting of this need is, of
course, one of the attractions of the scheme to both military
and civil authorities, the existing amenities of this nature
being so indifferent as to affect the recruitment of Europeans
to a serious extent. That step would, in turn, make available
for other purposes the land occupied by the present Volunteer
Headquarters and drill ground.
6.
As to the procedure on the possible future surrender of the new lands now proposed to be made available to the
Military Authorities, it is presumed that they would be dealt with through the Military Lands Account, unless, as is proposed
on this occasion, other arrangements were made by mutual
consent.
7.
I trust that this will satisfy you that it is to
the advantage of the Colony to deal with this matter outside the Military Lands Account and that a concession has been
made by the Military Authorities in agreeing to that, although
admittedly it is also to their advantage to secure the provision of new and up-to-date barracks in a site which it is hoped will be more convenient to them. The essence of the
matter is that the Military Authorities are now occupying
land which is extremely valuable for commercial purposes and
for general city development. It would be equally, if not more, satisfactory to them to have the barracks and centre buildings now in question on land in a more remote part of the island, which as already stated is of practically no commercial