Chadwick Steve: Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
Chadwick Steve: Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill — Second Reading Third Reading 
[Volume:635;Page:6314] 
STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) 
: 
 I move  
That the Rotorua Library Trust Fund Variation Bill be now read a second and a third time 
. This bill was first introduced to the House on 7 June 2006 and the House has granted leave 5 months later for us to take the second and third readings together. My thanks go to the Government Administration Committee for allowing this non-controversial but very important bill for Rotorua to be heard so quickly. 
This bill in effect realises the intention of the deceased Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson as expressed in her will. I missed the bill’s first reading speeches as I was at the Wahiao Marae for Guide Bubbles Mihinui’s tangi. Both women—wahine toa—were linked historically to Rotorua’s history of colonisation. Mr Seddon was said by our local historian Don Stafford to have married Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson after his first wife a local Maori woman died in a hot pool. Mr Seddon was one of the earliest Pakeha commercial operators as he lived in an accommodation house at Ohinemutu Village next door to Morrison’s Hotel. Mr Seddon owned one of the two original shops in Rotorua on the corner of Fenton and Arawa Streets opposite the post office. The shop known as the Comet sold general merchandise. 
When Mr Seddon died Mrs Seddon-Johnson moved to town then known in the annals of history as “Stinkville” or “Rotten Egg Town”. She was one of Rotorua’s first Pakeha widows and was a lady of some means living near the local library building by the Masonic Lodge. Mr Seddon died and was buried in splendid fashion at the Sala Street cemetery with a large bust in his commemoration. Mrs Seddon-Johnson though was remembered very humbly in the original library building by a tiny wooden plaque the local whereabouts of which is unknown today. The library was one of two rooms built by the town council in 1940; the other was the treasure house. There has been some suggestion that Elizabeth Seddon-Johnson is linked by descent to Richard Seddon. 
This bill will honour her intentions expressed in her will of 1932 which was probated in 1936. We can assure any descendants that her desire to support the library will be honoured by the passing of this bill almost 70 years later. 
The current library building is located in Haupapa Street Rotorua and it is a fine local library. It is located on the ground and first floors of a four-storey building. The top two floors are currently leased out though these leases terminate at the end of this calendar year. The library desperately needs the additional space that will be freed up as a result of the lease’s expiry. The drafters of the bill have been advised by Jane Gilbert the library manager that the library has effectively been in a holding pattern for the last 5 years or so due to the shortage of space. It is proposed that the library will occupy the whole of the building and the additional two floors will increase the space available at the library by around another two-thirds. In that regard the two top floors will provide less space than the two floors already occupied by the library. The council has allocated a budget of around $1 million for the 2006-07 year towards the necessary renovations refurbishing fitting out and provisioning of the library as a result of the two top floors becoming available. 
The essential primary purpose of this bill is to enable the council to access the capital of around $300000 of an endowment currently vested in it pursuant to section 31 of the Local Legislation Act 1937. In that regard I refer members to the explanatory note of the bill which spells out the basic background details. The fundamental difficulty that our council currently has in administering the endowment vested in it pursuant to the Act is that it does not have the ability to apply the capital of the endowment for the purposes of the library; rather only the income can be so applied. Further the purposes for which the income can be applied are arguably not currently specific to enable the income let alone the capital to be applied in the way the council intends. 
There is no doubt that the primary and fundamental purpose and the driver behind the bill being promoted by the council is the need to access the capital to enable the work to be carried out once the leases expire. Members will note that clause 5(2) enables both the capital and income of the endowment to be applied for a range of purposes such as expansion or relocation of the library; maintenance and upkeep of the library; purchase of books periodicals other reading matter and other materials of any kind available for use or hire by the public from the library; and the technological advancement of the facilities available in and through the library. It is fair to say that the bulk if not necessarily all of the endowment will be applied for the latter purpose. It is not inconsistent with the basic thrust of the bill. There may or may not be excessive funds available for the other stated purposes in clause 5(2). 
 The endowment has a rather tortuous legal history to it. Members will note from the explanatory note to the bill that the endowment can be traced back to the will of Elizabeth Ann Seddon-Johnson made in 1932 which was probated in 1936 and of which the proceeds were given to the Rotorua Borough Council to be used for or towards the erection of a new wing for the Rotorua Public Library. It is fair to say therefore that the purpose intended to be achieved by the bill effectively restores the original legal position to one whereby the intent of Mrs Seddon-Johnson is achieved. In that regard although what is contemplated by the council is not the erection of a new wing to the existing library it does involve the expansion of the existing library. 
The residue of Elizabeth Seddon-Johnson’s estate comprised a Crown lease situated in Rotorua. The purpose of section 37 of the Local Legislation Act 1937 was to enable the then borough council to acquire the lease and to borrow a sum for the purpose of paying out the legacies provided for in those provisions of Mrs Seddon-Johnson’s will that needed to be satisfied. As a result of the Rotorua Borough Council acquiring the land under the power conferred to it by that Act revenue was derived from it. Accordingly further provision was made in the Act whereby the income derived could also be applied for certain specific and relatively narrow purposes associated with the Rotorua Public Library. 
The council on at least two or three occasions over the last 20 years or so has approached the drafters of the bill seeking advice as to whether it was able to apply the capital of the endowment for the purposes of the Rotorua Public Library. That advice given last in 2005 has consistently been that the council did not have the power to apply the capital; it could apply only the income. The purpose of this bill therefore is to enable the council to access the capital and apply it for a wider range of purposes than is currently available but in a way that seems to be entirely consistent with the original intentions of Elizabeth Seddon-Johnson. In conclusion the library staff the Friends of the Rotorua Public Library the district council and the community of Rotorua will all be the beneficiaries of the bill. I thank the tolerance of the House for taking this reading so closely today.