Club decision awaited

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 27, 2 December 1986, Page 1

Club decision awaited

By the time this edition is published the doors of the Waiouru RSA Club may have been re-opened to Army personnel from the ATG but at the time of going to press yesterday the matter had not been resolved. The Bullctin spoke with Army Training Group Commander Colonel Graham Birch on Friday and learnt that he had been in contact with the national secretarv of the RSA to obtain somc assurances about the conduct of the Waiouru club that would allow the ban on all Army personnel to be lifted. Colonel Birch was confident that if the RSA cOuld meet the requirements of

normal New Zealand law in relation to chartered clubs. he would be able to lift the ban he had imposed on all Army personnel attending the Waiouru RSA Club a week earlier. The ban did not apply to personnel of either of the other two services the Navy and the Air Force at the ATG. he said. Asked to clarify the seemingly conflicting reasons for the ban - a number of newspapers have reported instances of under-age drinking and incorrect signing-in procedures as being the cause while others have cited a fight between a warrant officer and a staff sergeant Colonel Birch said that be was not prepared to discuss it publicly.

"It is a matter between us and the RSA and I have never discussed it with the press." He suggested that if the press and other news media want to speculate as to the reasons for the ban after interviewing people who were not partv to the facts. then that was their business. The Bulletin had also spoken earlier with Mr Robin Hudson, president of the Waiouru RSA Club and with Peggy Pedley, club secretarv but they weren't saying anything either. So. whatever the reasons for the ban let's hope the requirements can be met and the matter resolved as soon as possible ... its difficult to imagine a place like Waiouru without a viable RSA club.