THE PROBLEM OF PLAYING FIELDS

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 78, 2 April 1928, Page 6

THE PROBLEM OF PLAYING FIELDS

One may recognise the importance of the work being done by the Auckland Girls' Athletic Association, which has secured the use of the Remuera hockey grounds, and at the same time sympathise with the Hockey i Association in its loss. The Hockey Associai tion had used the area for many years, it had weathered a difficult period, and had spent a considerable sum of money on improvements. Because its tender for the lease of the ground is not so high as that of the Girls' Athletic Association it is forced to leave its old home and find other quarters, when, as everybody knows, there is a shortage of playing fields. The Dilworth Trust Board, of course, has to remember that it is the trustee of a philanthropic institution, but an old tenant is also entitled to consideration. At any rate, havipg called for tenders, and decided that none was entirely satisfactory, the Board should have given all the tenderers, and not one only, an opportunity of considering the revised conditions. A wider question raised by this transaction is the future of playing fields. The needs of these 600 girls are a reminder that the proportion of the population which seeks grounds for games is larger than it was a generation ago. If athletic bodies are to bid against each other for grounds, injustice may be done and the true spirit of sport endangered. Co-operation and foresight should be brought to bear on the problem.