A SOUND POLICY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 713, 13 December 1933, Page 4

A SOUND POLICY

i Although protests have been J made in certain instances, the j Rotorua Borough Council gen- j erally has approved the policy j laid down by its Advancement j Committee in guaranteeing ^ sports bodies against loss in the case of functions arranged by them for the attraction of visitors to Rotorua. The committee has now extended this policy by deciding to levy a charge of ten per cent. on the profits from any clubs so guaranteed and to use the money so levied to form a guarantee fund to provide the necessary financial security where it is required for entertainment functions. This is an excellent policy and one which should materially assist the committee in its primary objects of bringing visitors tG Rotorua and of entertaining them when they are here. The various sports clubs of the town each year make a very latge indirect contribution to the revenue of hotels and business people generally and there is no doubt that where the- guarantee is required for legitimate entertainment purposes it is within the seope and functions of the Advancement Committee to make this available. There appears to be a mistaken impression in some quarters that the committee is extending direct financial assistance to these clubs but this is hot the case. The committee has merely provided guarantees against loss and it is significant that in no case has a gdarantee been called up. 1 One of the most notable fea-

l tures of Rotorua's development during recent years has been the growth of its sports bodies and the increasing enthusiasm with which they have entered into the work of developing the holiday attractions of the town.'" Swimming carnivals, wrestling matches, athletic meetings, tennis and golf tournaments, galloping and trotting meetings, and all the other manifold sporting activities all contribute their quota to building up the reputation of the town as a holiday centre and all do something toj attract visitors and entertain i them while they are here. The programme for the approaching carnival is an excellent example of this. Among other things, it features a swimming carnival, an athletic sports meeting, a tennis tournament and a Maori regatta and is followed during succeeding months by bowling, tennis, and racing fixtures. In Rotorua more than in any other town in New Zealand it is essential that everything possible should be done to eneourage sporting facilities for the greater number of holidaymakers who come to the town are interested in sport in one j form or another. It is encouraging, therefore, to find that the Advancement Committee is taking practical steps to assist sports bodies in their efforts for by so doing it is fulfilling its main function. Obviously it is unnecessary as well as undesirable that the committee should be called upon to provide guarantees in the case of all sports functions held in the town, but where clubs are assisting in holiday entertainment and accepting risks for that purpose, it is fair that the ratepayers of the borough through the Advancement Committee should give them a measure of financial backing.