Recreation Grounds Board.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7808, 28 April 1905, Page 2

Recreation Grounds Board.

THE CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

'iho following is the Chairman's report to be read at the annual meeting of the Recreation Grounds Hoard : It has been the practice for soino time past lor the Chairman of the Recreation Grounds Hourd to gi\c a personal report on the conclusion of liia term of office. Such report does not necessasily represent the fec-ling of tho whole Hoard, and j propose to lake this opportunity oi stating my own views for the benolit of those of the public who take all interese in tile welfare of tho grounds.

An important change in the personnel of tile Hoard has been caused by the addition of three members n" the liorough Council, who .by courtesy are allowed exactly the siSn.e privileges of voting and management us the statutory members of the Hoard. It was felt by both Hoard and Council to be an anomaly hxli;e liorough Council to vote funds, mid yet to have 110 voice in the r disposal, and a solution of the ditliculty has been arrived at which ho& acted, and, I liav* no doubt, will continue to act, well and without friction.

The full roll of llio Board is seven members, but the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr XI. Cock" has not been filled, as he in iris capacity of Mayor acts as one of the three Borough Council tives. It is essential for the proper working of the Board that the majority of its members should continue in office for a long time, so that the grounds may be managed on some kind of system, but it is equally desirable that new blood should be .added. A very great improvement- has taken place in the look of the grounds. The native trees are growing rapidly, and a number of beautiful paths; have been laid out, although I fear that most of our townspeople do not make the of the new walks that their beauty deserves. In fact, the grounds are taken too much as a matter of course, and are admired more by strangers than by those whoso familiarity with them breeds indifference, if not contempt. The result of forming so many new paths has been to necessitate a good deal of extra expense in the upkeep of parts of the grounds which were hitherto

neglected. It has long been felt that there was no accommodation for ladies, and tho Hoard, acting on a faith that has never failed them, havo gladly accepted the offer of tHo Builders' Association to supply all the work required to put tip a handsome building, with tea room attached, and not exactly knowing where tho money is coining from, have pledged themselves to supply al>out £SO worth of material required. What is wanted to increase tho beauty of the grounds is more colour, which can only effectively be got by massing flowering shrubs and flowers in beds. Those who have seen tho Sydney Gardens,which are probably tho most beautiful in the world, will know what it is possible to do with plenty of money, but the almost adjoining grounds of Brooklands and Maranui are practical examples showing how colour can be got at an almost trifling cost. If a small greenhouse were put up, bright annuals could bo

yearly raised, and there would be no dilllculty in getting plenty of donations of any quantity of such flowers as dahlias and the various kinds of narcissi. If our townsfolk are in real earnest they must insist upon the Borough Council giving a more liberal grant for the upkeep of the Gardens, and the listi of our annual subscribers must be more than doubled. In the meantime

could not our public und private schools each undertake to keep u small bed of flowers if the rough work of digging' were first done ? A healthy rivalry might be encouraged by a special prize being awarded for tho test kept bed, A few hours

spent every month ill such work as I suggest would be as health/ill and productive of more good than the same time s|>ont in games. Complaints may be made that I havo said nothing about the sports ground, which some will say ought to be put in the foreground, but I would remind those who wade through this dreary report that tho

Act under which the Board is constituted is "The Taranaki Roianie Harden Act, 1876," and, with tho exception possibly of the title of the Hoard, there is nothing in tho Act from one ond of it to the other which implies that the Iloard should have anything to do with the holding of sports. Tho main duty of tho Board is to maintain the grounds and Keep adding to their beauty, nnd if the Board has been guilty of any sins of omission in this respect it has been the fault o( those who. have not supplied them with suflcient funds. It is, I suppose, a fact that no public grounds in the colony are kept at half the cost that ours are, and very few indeed aro as beautiful, and it is to be regretted that tho custodian and his assistant are paid such miserable wages. Thoso who cry out against the Board for doing so little for tho sports ground are not, I think, those of the community who are tho most liberal, und nothing is more humiliating or annoying to tho Board than the attempts mnde to se~

cure tho use of the grounds for the lowest possible figure, and the illdisguised throats that if tho Ilora-d insists upon its proper proportion of gato money then important matches will bo held in other places ; nnd it

cannot be forgotten thut on a recent occasion when, I understand, .about £7OO was received in the grounds, the Board, after unpleasant bargaining, had to put up with £ls. I have always been a supporter of manly games, and nobodv desires more, than I do to have a good sports ground, but when that happy tiinp comes I trust that the members of the Board will be firm and insist upon thoir due share of the receipts for the purpose of further improvements. Messrs Sladden and Palmer are preparing a plan showing how the sports ground can bo thoroughly drained nnd raised, and the different athlelt'c clubs have been asked to send in plans and estimates of the requisite stunds and dressing rooms, and if tho sporting element is as earnest as it would have us believp, there ought to bo no difficulty in making the sports ground a credit to tho place, and lit fo V any reasonable rttniirutiQiUs. The po|tj|nHt) idua is that tho Board at present receives large sums from sports and does nothing in return but the accounts for the past vear,' | which will shortly bo publi'shed, show that during the past year only £4O 12s tid was received a's against £4l lis and £23 9s 3d, received irom subscribers and special donations.

1 would again repeat that it is no part of the work of the Hoard tt make or improve 'tho sports ground but if niftney i|i supply ( Q it for this sjwciaJ ppi'.poao t'.vt'vv penny will bf spent in tho best possible way. In conclusion X would bog for more annual subscribers and for more liberal support, and it would not be out of place to suggest that occasional legacies would b» acceptable Last year the Hoard gave up its floral fete and fireworks so as not to clash with the Exhibition #oiumittcc, and t htnvUy xaerifieed at [least il2,"v winch has not Iwen made ■wil. 1" addition to this some regular subscribers happened to be inhibition guarantors, and apparently have dropped out in consequence. Iwer.v member of the Hoard devotes a fair amount of time to the work I

of improving the gruunds, and all incur certain liabilities in the shape of a guarantee to secure un often recurring overdraft, and fche Hoard welcomes suggestions. <U it is always open to consider anv new ideas and does not mind honest criticism, T trust that my successor will be ablo to do more than I have, but 1 am certain that he will not receive moro kindness or consideration from his fellow members.—CLEMENT X. GOVETT, Chairman Hon)*} *o{ Trustees for I'ublio Ue^riuiiuiu,