THE ROYAL VISIT

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 90, 13 October 1934, Page 10

THE ROYAL VISIT

STREET DECORATIONS

COUNCIL VOTE OP £1000

PYLONS, BUNTING, LIGHTS

The City Council has voted £1000 for street decorations, special lighting of the streets at night, measures for traffic control, and transport for the children's gathering during the visit of tho Duke of Gloucester in December. The greater part of the money will be expended in labour. The Government is contributing £500 towards the cost of Wellington's welcome.

Tho Mayor (Mr. T.. C. A. Hislop) stated today that after a discussion with the council's officers and representatives of tho business community a special committee iiad been set up and had now brought down a general plan. This was placed before the council on Thursday night and was approved unanimously. The amount to be spent was not large, but in view of the present difficulties before the city a larger expenditure was not considered advisable.

The council's expenditure in connection with the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York was about £3000, and that for the visit of the Prince of Wales was between £5000 and £0000, so that the' present figure was quite moderate.

"Practically the whole of the money will be spent in labour," added Mr. Hislop, "and the council proposes to take on additional men for the work and to pay them full.rates."

With the expenditure so limited, he continued, it was necessary to restrict the street decorations to certain-areas of tho city, for any adequate schemes of continuous decoration would considerably exceed the amount available. In order to obtain the maximum results it was felt that the method of decoration should conform as nearly as possible with that taken in decorating the city streets during the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1920 and the visit of the Duke and, Duchess of York in 1927. Some material was in hand from these decorations, but it would require considerable expense in renovation. THREE SECTIONS OF THE CITY. The form of decoration decided upon was. by the erection of pylons decorated with bunting spaced at intervals in three sections of the city: from the intersection, of Bunny Street and Featherston Street through Bunny Street and Lambton Quay to Ballanco Street; from Courtenay Place along Kent and Cambridge Terraces and Duffdrin Street to the entrance of Government House; and in Lower Cuba Street along the frontage of the Town Hall from Mercer Street to Wakefield Street. It Avas not intended to carry out any decorations in the business streets, but no cloubt owners of premises would assist very readily, and it would bo desirable if some general scheme were agreed upon. Approximately half of the material required for tho council's scheme, the chief items being pylons and bunting, is available from stocks carried over, said Mr. Hislop, and allowing for the renovation of this material and for the manufacture of additional pylons and the purchase of now bunting this section of the work can be carried out for £500. The larger pylons will be draped with three large national flags at an angle on throe faces. Streamers will be stretched across the roadway and between pylons as in previous decoration schemes. It is not intended to erect arches in the city streets, as their cost is too high. NIGHT DECORATIONS. The illumination of the streets at night will be similar to that adopted during the recent Confidence Carnival week, that is, with streamers of coloured lights in the main streets and festoons of lights between the lighting pillars in Oriental Bay. Additional lights will be placed in Kent and Cambridge Terraces. The Cuba Street frontage of the Town Hall is to be outlined with globes, generally on the same design as on previous occasions, except that the removal of tho tower and portico will require some variation, to give as effective a display. This street and Town Hall illumination and the purchase of such material as' may be necessary —the greater part is on hand—is estimated to cost about £360, of which £200 will be spent in labour. • A big item of expenditure will be tli9 transport of school children from various parts of the city and suburbs to the gathering at Newtown Park, and another fairly big item will be the erection of rope and other barricades at the Town Hall and at certain other points along tho route and the* provision of additional measures of traffic control.

Apart from the council's scheme for the decoration and lighting of streets and tho Town Hall decorative schemes will no doubt bo carried out by the Government, with particular attention to the new railway station, where the Duke will perform the ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of the new station, and_ by the Harbour Board, which has set up a special committee to bring down recommendations to an early meeting.