OFFICIAL PLANS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 17, 4 February 1937, Page 3

OFFICIAL PLANS

Great Demand Coming From Dominions The Office of Works has decided, for the benefit of spectators of ihe Coronation procession, to provide as many seats as possible in stands to be erected along sections of the route— public parks and so on — under ita controL Since the Office of Works controis aearly two-thirds of the route of about 6} miles, this decision is of great' imgortance and should do much to ourb the ambitions of profiteers who havo oeen speculating in seats on privately >wned parts of the route. It ha3 been reached as the result ox representations made by public bodiea such as the Travel Assoeiation and by ostablished tieke t agencies, which are alarmed at the extravagant prices do"uanded by speculators. fhe number of seats will be far beyond the 70,000 provided for the jubilee procession last year. Unofficial estimates vary between 200,000 and 250,000. Controlled Prices. Some 100,000 of these would be uoeded for official guests — diplomats, members of Parliament and privilegeti visitors from oversoas, The disposal of the remainder will bo decidPQ in pnnciple by the Coronation Committee. It is almost certain that a iarge proportion will be allotted tc school children ard to semi-offieiai #rgaiJisations such as. the Britisli Legion, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. There should be a eonsidorablo surplus available for the general public Piices will be controlled, and one suggestion lnade is thal any prolits shoulfl be devoled to King George V. Memorial ITund. "It mu.st be remembered," said an : official, "that wa have to allow for .-pectators standmg 12 deep, and i'oi trees which in many places limit I erection of stands. | "The higher the stands the more I they cost, and we do not . propose to ' build any where the price of individua' seats would have to be more than £2 2/- each, allowing a small margin oi . profit." | Number of Seats. i A survey of the route, conceming ihe maximum possible accommodation it affords, gives the following flgures:— Total seats (public and. private) 350,000 Standing room (thtee people to the yard, 12 deep) .... 800,000 Total spectators (standing and eeated) about .. 1,250,000 Gigantic as this figure is, it is generally believed that many more people than this will want to see the historie event. That faet has encouraged frantic speoulation. On a finaneial basis of 10 per cent. of the price down speculators have been buying accommodation and trying to re-sell at a profit, whic tended to niake the ultimate prices of seats prohibitive. Happily- there ard now signs that the frenzy of speculation is abating. Demand from Dominions. / "But," said an official, "the geuuinc demand from the Dominions, the Qolonies, the United Statos and residents in this country is so great that the lowest price at which people may expect to get a privately let seat anywhere is probably £5 5/-. And t1 • ■ • will be only comparatively few at tn figure. ' ' tn favoured positions, such as tlie neighbourliood of Westminster Abbey. £50 or even £100 is being "demanded for a single seat.