The Provincial Council having met, after arranging their own internal economy, was prompt in acknowledging the requirements of the town; and at its first session in January, 1854, passed an ordinance entitled the "Dunedin Public Lands," under which a Board of Commissioners was appointed, consisting of all the members of the Provincial Council itself, and in addition "six other persons to be elected by those qualified to vote in any of the electoral districts of the province." The special duties of this Board were defined to be: "To deal with the lands reserved for public purposes in and about the town of Dunedin." It will thus be seen that the Dunedin reserves originally made, were not exclusively, or in any way particularly for the residents in the town, but were set apart, reserved and destined for such public purposes as were detailed.
The public purposes for which the lands were reserved were, "such as fortifications, public buildings, sites for places of public worship and instruction, baths, wharves, quays, cemeteries, squares, a park, and other places for health and recreation in and about the town of Dunedin." The municipal estate was a speciality for the town alone.
The powers vested in the Commissioners were to let on lease for any period not exceeding nineteen years any part of the said lands for any purpose not inconsistent with the purposes for which they were destined and reserved. Particular stipulations were also made regarding "that part of the lands called the Town Belt," by which every precaution was to be taken for preserving "the trees and shrubs therein, or such parts of them as it might be desirable to preserve, with a view to the order and amenity of the ground, and also for draining and improving it, and ultimately laying it down in grass, with walks and carriage drives, as a public park or place of public recreation, provided that no buildings or other erections other than the necessary fencing be erected on the said lands."
It is needless to say that no leases were made nor rents collected for any of these reserves, in fact, in spite and in face of the Ordinance and the Commissioners, a large amount of squatting took place, houses and whares of the usual description and of the material most easily obtained, were planted on almost every place, save and except the Octagon.
