NEW PARK AT BURNSIDE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28930, 25 June 1959, Page 19

NEW PARK AT BURNSIDE

Development Has Been Rapid

The rapid growth in the last two years of the Burnside Rugby Club, the general increase in the number of people playing sport in the Burnside district, and the wholehearted co-operation of the Waimairi County Council have all contributed towards the recent growth of Burnside Park, which may soon be one of the city's foremost sporting areas. A total of 80 acres in and around the present Burnside Park is gradually being developed by the Waimairi County Council, as the demand for further sporting facilities in the area becomes evident. Last year there were three Rugby grounds at the park, and two hockey grounds, but recently a further two Rugby and one Soccer grounds have been marked out and cut on a 36-acre block recently purchased by the council.

Rugby in the district has developed amazingly in the last two years, mainly as a result of the formation of the Burnside Rugby Club in 1957. The club first entered in the Canterbury Rugby Union’s competitions in 1958, with eight teams. This year the club fields 12 teams, including one in the fourth grade, its first open grade team. One team in the under 18 grade and 10 in the under-weight erades, including five in the under sst grade, complete the club's entry. Tire Cantrebury Rugby Union recently asked the Council to make available further grounds for the playing of Rugby in the area, and it seems likely that more development will take place as soon as possible. There is plenty of room in Burnside Park for further development, as the necessity arises. The purchase of the land to provide a park of 80 acres has required much negotiation and finance from the Waimaiari County Council, and for this reason the development of facilities cannot proceed as fast as the council would have wished. An officer of the council said this week that the question of the erection of dressing-sheds was at present under discussion by the council, and that it was the council’s intention to eventually provide excellent fnct'ities for air the users of the park.