Mackey Janet: Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park)  Validation Bill — First Reading 
Mackey Janet: Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park)  Validation Bill — First Reading 
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JANET MACKEY (Labour—East Coast) 
: 
 I move  
That the Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill be now read a first time. 
 When I first came to Parliament 12 years ago the first speech I ever gave in this House was on the sale of the Government computing organisation or department. In those days we had to give 10-minute speeches and I found that first speech particularly difficult for a number of reasons. Firstly I did not know that the Government had a computing organisation. Secondly I was utterly indifferent as to whether it sold it or raffled it given my lack of knowledge about it. Thirdly in those days we were not allowed to have any notes before us in Parliament when we spoke to legislation. So my first 10-minute speech was a very difficult and nerve-racking time. 
It is almost singularly appropriate that my final speech in this House as I leave Parliament should be on the Gisborne District Council (Alfred Cox Park) Validation Bill because once again my speech is on a bill that is not a simple one on which to speak for 10 minutes. However it is also appropriate that the bill is a local bill from the one part of my electorate that has been in my electorate for the entire 12 years I have been in Parliament. So it is with great pleasure that I recommend this extremely non-controversial legislation to the entire Parliament. 
The bill is designed to validate the uses of a park in Gisborne called the Alfred Cox Park. The uses of the park currently are contrary not only to the Reserves Act but also to the terms of the deed of trust under which the park was gifted to the Borough of Gisborne in 1944. This particular reserve cannot be used for buildings that are used for commercial or private use. Unfortunately the Gisborne District Council has its information centre on the land. As we know the information centre is now run by Tourism Eastland which is a private organisation and is outside the local authority—and I know that that concerns Mr Williamson hugely! But we now need to ensure that we do not have to move the building or remove the function of the organisation from the building as a result of the private nature of the business carried on there. 
In 1992 the visitor information centre was erected on the land. Prior to 1990 part of the land was also used as the site of a flea market. That flea market is now a biweekly event. It is well attended. People in Gisborne look forward to it and farmers bring their produce to the market but it is run privately. Although most members in this House including myself have a natural aversion to the endorsement of retrospective legislation the Gisborne community in this instance is faced with no other option. The information centre is too substantial and too solid a building to be considered for relocation besides which Alfred Cox Park is a central location and the stop-off point for many of the tourism operators who come in and out of Gisborne and for the tour company buses. There is no alternative site on which Gisborne can carry out these activities. Therefore it is my recommendation to the House that parties support this legislation. I commend the bill to the House.