SPEEDWAY AT ARANUI

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27921, 19 March 1956, Page 6

SPEEDWAY AT ARANUI

STADIUM SEATING IN DISREPAIR

COUNCIL TO WITHHOLD LICENCE Seating at the Aranui Speedway stadium is considered by the Christ- 1 ehurch City Council to be in a bad ; state of neglect and disrepair. The council has informed the speed- s way promoter. Mr D. Wild, of Christ- ; church Speedways, Ltd., that unless the 1 seating is put to rights a licence to hold meetings in the stadium will not ; be renewed for next season's racing. The 1955-56 season of racing finished : on Saturday evening. In 23 meetings during the summer nearly 200.000 persons went through the turnstiles to watch motor-cycle and midget car events. In an announcement to patrons at the speedway on Saturday evening. Mr Wild said he did not know whether! the speedway meetings would be held next "season because the circuit was rented on a weekly basis, and the persons letting it would not fix the seating. The speedway property is owned by All Sports. Ltd., which built the stadium in 1947. For the last two years the company has let the stadium to Christchurch Speedways. Ltd.

Mr Wild told “The Press’’ last even-1 ing that he favoured control of the: speedway by the Christchurch City Council. Municipal Speedways "The other speedways in New Zealand—at Auckland and New Plymouth —are both run by city councils.” he said. "They use the profits for public relations. I am a great advocate of that. There is a means of revenue for public relations if the City Council in Christchurch was wide awake. “The council claims it is getting' neglected and to be quite frank, it’ is,” Mr Wild said. "We, ourselves, j have put a lot of timber into it and! we have done a lot of small construe-; tion work. Now it needs major work." Mr Wild said that the stadium, which used to be able to hold 15.000 persons, now had places where there was nowhere to sit. "There is enough work to be done there to keep one man going a solid eight hours a day for two or three

months." he said. In answer to a question, Mr Wild ‘ said that as far as he knew there had been no accidents with seating at the i stadium. i “In fact.” he said, “the stadium has' the best accident-free record of any under the control of the International Auto-Cycle Union according to advice I received from the union la»» Thursday. There has never been an accident there.” When asked what his reaction to the council edict was and what his plans for the stadium were. Mr Wild replied: “I have had two years and at the present time I am fed up with the job. which runs into a 60-hour week. It would be no trouble to do up the seating and by next season, probably October. I will be keen to go again. I am quite confident that it will go again next year.” The only amusing part of the matter the promoting company can find is the title to the licence which the council says is in the balance—“ Dance Hall Proprietors* Licence.”