SUMNER BATHING POOL.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 10

SUMNER BATHING POOL.

OPPOSITIONISTS MEET. : deputation TO council !>{ \>XED. . ,xi' r.J from £15,000 I 'i' bathinc poo] at Sum- j ncr in tne sn«* 1 proachins th« Clif.'P H ' !l '•»»•■> j .1,0 district., and last ratepayers of tiu u i!,. meeting, convened by evening a pu' li"- iue , , . T, 1 v l'.ui. a member of the ' ~ j an d he!d in the Town Borough Council, and u«- i Hail decided to a<k the Borougn Coun . .■*l i r ..u- ill tcierence to tlie cil to wit Kill which it ; jwinimmg 1 Parliament, and fnr the views of a deputauon on 1 when he farst K scheme was in hand. d mt { i\ plan was on tlie - vest I was asked to support the Bill v j tie land m the borough. The meet in had had no chanre of opening up the with the Borough Council. In fact ho had been told to sit down when he had asked q u f st, °? s - , t mtentioned people thought w : m . would be a R ood idea to "s---ming pool on the site. but the tion arose: " Whose Property Thp present Council was only working STtCpLn of the that went on quite well until.there was a bv-election. which was the cldinL' factor in the plan had not been reported on by the engineer, and y*t the 'chwne cost from £15.000 to £16.000 - . uianntion of the Prop-s'N as to »P had been given to the Council or Severs The idea wa. ta 611 t:hj halt, by tidal water twice », d ;L'° depth of from 6ft to Bit. yet the ci verts were quite to fin t hath Emptvinc would be impossible, an account of the «=ediment and sand. The people were told that so far £3 had been spent bv the hut all would b<-' disappointed to n r" result. (Applause.) XN ere . . moters just starling a scheme, the coet «<f which would soon appear on the rate asked the spender, ironically •Applause.) It was -aid that the bath would be endowed and presented to the borough. He still desired to know who wero the donors of the money. It was suggested that the road, be 18 feet, that there be provision of SUW spectators, Half an . acre tor tenm» courts, and provision for 200 cars! There was a great deal of feeling over the matter. "This is all very nice for Mr Nicholson" (the Mayor), said the speaker, "and the Mayor is to be congratulated on sticking; to such » Frheme. Of course, the scheme is all right, but the site is the worst that could possibly be chosen. \ou could dig a hole in the sand and thus have « wool much more cheaply than on tlie site proposed Why dil not the promoters put the matter before the school committee—of which I3® cnwrinun - asked the speaker. "You people will ; surely not a!i®w children to march there without knowing that they would •eturn safely" (Applause.) He ,had been accused, ho said, or 'flaking damaging statements at the Inst Council meeting but ne had notbeen allowed to reply; therefore hc had decided to make an explanation at a public meeting. Sewage Discharge. At one end of tho causeway there was the septic discharge, and at the other a sewage discharge. The discharge oi one of the was only 100 yards from the inlet to the pool. "Although the Mayor might be prepared to drink the water coming from septic tanks, we have other ideas, said the speaker. "We do not object to the swimming pool, but we do object to being treated like children by the Mayrjr," said Mr Tait. ' "What s wrong with the scheme? It wont stand looking into. Is it fair for donors to come along with gifts and yet the Mayor carries the scheme up his 6leeve and declines to discuss ii?" (Applause.) The chairman expressed the hope that his action in taking the chair would not mar the good feelings which oxifcted between the Mayor and hiroself. . In reply to questions, Mr Tait said that the "plan- was private —very private ! Medical Officer's Opinion. A voice: Has the Medical Officer of Health been asked for his opinion? i Mr Tait said that, privately, Dr. Telford had promised to give a report, but the Council had not asked Dr. Telford's opinion. Mr B. J. Ager said that Dr. Telford had replied to a letter from him to the effect that, owing to the situation of the baths, the water would be subject to fairly heavy pollution. The offensive materials discharged from outlets was carried backwards and forwards, and thus pollution would be fairly continuous. That letter. said Mr Ager, he (the speaker) had for- i warded to the Bills Committee. I

A woman: Surely, Mr Chairman, that must put a set upon the bath! The chairman: It certainly condemns the position. A speaker: We are not so much concerned as to whether Vhe bath would be a good bath as with finding out what is at the back of it all. V>e are told it would cost £15.000 to £16.000. The promoters should put all their cards on the table. Why don't they tell us how it 'will be endowed and maintained without cost to the ratepavers? The land, according to the Bill, is to be vested in the borough ; therefore, the borough should know all about it. If we are not informed, we should take all possible stens to prevent the Bill going through Parliament. Mr Tait suggested that the meeting appoint a committee to wait on tue Council and ask it to withdraw ail mention of the pool from the Bill. He suggested that the land be simply vestet in the I»rou<rh of Sumner. j Another sneaker: Keep this sewerage business right out of the papers, no j matter what Dr. Telford says. It is j no advertisement for Sumner!_ As to temperature, whatever wind is blowing you will find a cold spot in that nno!' "Let ns support the Bill, but delete all reference to the j «wirnm'n£r pool .Mr Tait- There is no fear of the> | Bill iroing through without our being j notified. It was decided to send a deputation to the tskintr Jiat it should withdraw all to the swimming pool from the Bill to come before Parliament and to call a meeting of sports bodies and others interested to discuss the question of another site, or in find out if a pool was actually needed. The following were appointed as the deputation-. —Mews -T. S Barr. R. N. C. Hill. D. Smith. P. J. Twomev, FT. W. Feslop. F. Adoofk. 0. S. Booth. j J. E. Tait, B. J. Ager. and W. Henley, t