BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24, 1949 WELL DONE, WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 29, 24 August 1949, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24, 1949 WELL DONE, WHAKATANE

Our Australian guests last week-end were delighted with: the arrangements made for their entertainment, and all enjoyed their stay here. They particularly appreciated the way local citizens went out of their way to make them welcome. It can be said, too, that the arrangements for the actual rugby match were good considering local conditions. With no permanent grandstand, the seating naturally left something to be desired, but the arrangements that were made served to accommodate a bumper crowd reasonably well The whole performance goes to show that this place can cater for really big events, and would appear to justify persistent efforts to have more of them staged here. Now that it has been demonstrated that a crowd of 6,000 odd can be assembled and accommodated at the Whakatane rugby field there should be every justification for pushing ahead with permanent arrangements to cater for future crowds.

With the progress this town and district are making, there would also seem to be some urgency about planning all our recreational facilities with a view to future expansion. Some time ago now, it will be recalled, the Borough Council discussed with the Minister of Internal Affairs a community centre plan which envisaged the possible grouping of such facilities around a large building and the laying out of the Domain as a war memorial. At that time the Minister said he considered that the most constructive and useful type of memorial that could be devised, and promised all the co-opera-tion within his power.

One recalls there was some subsequent discussion about the leasing of portions of the grounds by the Domain Board to the A. and P. Association and to the Rugby Sub-Union —propositions to which certain organisations and citizens here objected on the grounds that such action might restrict the free use of the Domain by sports organisations other than those concerned in the leases.

It was always clear that the Borough Council had no intention of being a party to any such restrictions, and it should not be. impossible to allay anv such fears.

There is in the community centre scheme an asset of great potential value to this town and district, and, in view of last week’s demonstration of the sort of crowds that will gather here on special occasions, the sooner we hear more of it the better.