SWIMMING BATH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 7, 5 August 1946, Page 4

SWIMMING BATH

JOINT COMMITTEE SET UP COUNCIL AND HARBOUR BOARD Urging that a joint committee be set up for the purpose of going into the possibilities of constructing a temporary swimming bath in which children and adults could be taught to swim under properly supervised conditions, Messrs. A. ,T, Canning and C. S. Armstrong (representing the Borough Council) waited on the Whakatane Harbour Board last Friday. :

Both speakers were given a sympathetic hearing and promised the co-operation of the Board. Mr Canning said that the matter was not a new one, and any suggestion for constructing a full sized permanent concrete bath was out of the question on account of the finance involved and also the lack of cement and essential material. The Borough Council however thought that they should look to the future and endeavour to at least investigate some scheme .or other. Mr Armstrong outlined the activities of the Whakatane Swimming Club, a live-wire organisation which had instituted swimming instruction in a ,‘Learn-to-swim’ week early in the year which had been most successful. It was suggested that the site for a temporary bath would be at the foot of Landing Road, where swimming was popular during . the season. The Club suggested that portion of the bank be excavated and the bath built out into the river by driving in strong stakes and fencinf off an area with wire mesh. This would create an enclosed space in which the children could be taught to swim in safety. The value of swimming he said, need scarcely be emphasised and the makeshift bath would serve a valuable purpose for town and country residents. Mr Hunter suggested a place' in the river which was . not so out of the way for country visitors to take advantage of.

Mr Canning said that the Landing Road beach had been decided on as it was close to the centre of population. J

The Board decided to appoint a committee comprising the Chairman (Mr W. R. Boon), the Secretary (Mr C. G. Lucas) and Mr H. G. Warren to confer with the Borough Council on the whole matter with power to act.