BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1950 LARGE HALL WANTED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 3, 2 October 1950, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1950 LARGE HALL WANTED

It appears, though little has been made public, that dissension still exists in the War Memorial Planning Sub-Committee about the form and purpose of Uie proposed Community Centre. If .the Centre is ever to get past the “proposal” stage, it is time that the dissension ceased and essentials were realised. The Borough Council, in which the building will be vested and which rightly has the last say, has given a positive lead in insisting that the first essential is a hall large enough to seat 900 people. This insistence results from the fact that, when the Winter Show building goes, the town will have no other major hall.

The other amenities which are recognised parts of a Community Centre should never be allowed to fall too far into the background but, in the meantime, the obvious thing to do is to plan a hall which will fill the more materialistic needs of the Borough. Throughout Whakatane County, townships have given a lead to the Borough. At Taneatua, Awakeri, Waimana and Galatea, for instance, plans for efforts which, though small in comparison with Whakatane’s ambitious scheme, are big enough in proportion to population, proceed apace. In those places, objects are clearly realised and work appears to be unified. Taneatua will actually have its Community Centre early next year. Here is an example of straightforward work which Whakatane could well follow. Continued dissension at this stage could be disastrous. It could, for example, lead to loss of a subsidy.