EXHIBITION CHARGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 117, 14 November 1939, Page 10

EXHIBITION CHARGES

SOME CRITICISMS

WHAT CORRESPONDENTS

THINK

Though the details to • which they draw attention differ, correspondents to "The Post" agree upon two points: that - the first charge of one. shilling at the gates of the Exhibition is, for the splendid range and scale of the courts and grounds and for such , a brilliant show as was made last night with lighting and electric' fountain under perfect conditions, most reasonable —a real shilling's worth —but that charges inside the gates, Jlor meals, for most amusements, and lor car parking, are too high, not merely in themselves, but as likely *%o discourage attendances at the Exhibition proper,

It is understood, that pertain of. the charges are already. under consideration; charges for set meals< a;t the: Ex->, hibition restaurant; have already been i reduced. ' '"' *' i

A typical letter is from "Small Profits, Quick Returns'': ."As a Wellington citizenmay I>be permitted to voice my protest at some of the exorbiant chai-ges for meals and in the Playland area? I, like many others, would like to attend the Exhibition a: number of times, as without doubt at is' one; of the most instructive and en.tertain-, ing places it has been my fortune to visit, but the charges inside the gates rule out repeated/visits; they are absolutely beyond the average man and his family."

This correspondent -refers particularly to the cost of meals, which run! from a minimum of Is 3d for a reasonably satisfactory light meal up to what, was to him the astonishing price; of 5s lor a hot dinner, after a wait in a x queue for fifty minutes. (This price has since been reduced to 35.) Most of the Playland attractions cost a shilling, and a. two-minute thrill and whizz on the show piece of the amuse^ ment park cost Is 6d. •

"For a single visit such: charges may be well enough, but the Exhibition is to continue for six months, and cari only,do,so if Wellington people go.■•'and'

go time again, for-though a great many visitors from outside the city will attend, Wellington's continued patronage must, after all, be the backbone of Exhibition success. Possibly some form of concession card might be evolved to make the way more possible for the family man in the amusement section, for meals, or for both," he suggests. '■':.' Others write particularly of the charges for meals in the restaurant •and cafetei-ia, but some base their criticism upbn the charges made on opening day, when 5s was asked for a hot dinner under delays and long wailing which were probably unavoidable in the first rush and with a new staff and new organisation. The charges in the restaurant have been reduced and kitchen and waiting staff have settled to smooth vorking. PARKING CHARGES CRITICISED. There is a great deal of criticism from motorists over parking charges. One correspondent states that the City Council, by bringing down a most enveloping blanket bylaw prohibiting parking in practically every street, including streets which carry virtually no traffic, within comfortable walking distance of ths Exhibition entrances, has endeavoured to compel motorists to use the official parks, though he agrees that haphazard parking, carried, to .the extent of interfering with traffic movement. ' could not ba tolerated.' The shilling charge for the aerodrome park during the evening is surely the maximum that should be asked for any park, day or night, he considers, and for the Exhibition Company to ask Is 6d and for the Stadium to ask 2s per car .is to do the wholeExhibition project a disservice. ''Better a.full park at sixpence a car than a park one-tenth full af 2s a car," he concludes. CAR PARTIES AND HAMPER MEALS. A problem which will crop up when the warm and longer summer and January evenings' come round will be to give facilities for car parties to eat picnic meals. At present this cannot be done except under the least attractive condition, for no , out-passes are issued and once a party is inside the gates there it stays. "Exhibition or no Exhibition," writes "Five in My Car," "motor parties here, as everywhere else where there are outdoors, prefer to suit themselves. Some of them —probably the -quite small minority—like to go to" hotels ' and restaurants for their meals, but. most family parties pack a hamper. Is there any reason in the world- why some simple system of pass-out check should not be available to enable families like my own to have their picnic meals, not by lugging hampers into the Exhibition (where there are no suitable places' to picnic), but as they are accustomed to eat them, at their cars. ' ■ "Apparently, up.till now, the Exhibition authorities are adamant on _ this point: they will permit no return to parked cars for any purpose; but it is clear that when the summer, attendances build up to 100,000; people «ind| more in a day, the internal catering i arrangements will be wholly inadequate, and, for many people, too costly, and against their wishes to combine i the Exhibition with picknicking."