NEWTOWN SCHOOL

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10616, 15 June 1920, Page 8

NEWTOWN SCHOOL

THE SITE DIFFICTJLTY. TOWN BELT SECTIONS. A proposal for dealing with the sits difficulty as regards Newtown school ia that the present school site should bo CM.-nan«ed with the City Council for portions of.the Town Belt. ~ The school sitei could be made a rest park and recreation area in a congested -quarter. The chairman of the Education Board (Mr Forsyth) stated that the parts of tbe Belt which are desired have, up to the present, been used for no other purpose than grazing of horses and the propagation of .noxious-weeds. One of tne sites is a block of land at the head of Seddon terrace (off Corostreet), and immediately to the north of "the Newtown lawn tennis courts. This section, at present mostly a barren patch, with outcrops of bare clayey soil, is situated on a sunny slope; it is conveniently placed for usa |as the education centre of Newtown East; and, further, it is beneficially remote from traffic. The other section is on the l Belt close to John street, on the other side of Newtown, so that it wou!d_ cater for the children of Western Newt-own and for the big increase which might be expected in settlement in that locality (Lower Vogeltown, etc.). Mr Forsyth states that all that is re» ally needed from the council is tha actual land to be covered by the school buildings, as he contends that the areas required for playgrounds come within the terms of the gift of the Belt to tha city. The present school site was much more valuable than the Town Belt area* required. If the City Council did noi agree to the proposal, tho sit© would have to bo disposed of to provide th« fuhds for purchasing other property. This would mean the acquisition hi areas now used for residential purposes, and this the board did mot wish to do while the housiDg problem- was so very acute.