Limit Of 50 On Parties Visiting Port

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30405, 2 April 1964, Page 8

Limit Of 50 On Parties Visiting Port

The Lyttelton Harbour Board will not relax its restriction upon the size of parties of schoolchildren visiting the port. Yesterday’s meeting of the hoard re-affirmed a previous decision that parties be limited to 50 children.

Yesterday the board received a letter from the general manager of the Christchurch Transport Board, Mr J. F. Fardell, referring to the earlier decision. Mr Fardell wrote: “I am disappointed to find that the maximum number that can be admitted is 50. While I appreciate that 1000 pupils, even if split into two groups of 500, would be too many to handle at the one time from your works point of view, I was wondering if it is possible for you to reconsider the question of the small number of 50, which is only one bus load. It is felt that the high schools having shown interest in this matter would be unable to avail themselves of the opportunity of seeing the works if it is confined to one bus load at a time, because it would take so long to get the whole school through. Would it be

possible for four bus loads to be brought to the site, as it is felt that this would considerably help the desire of schools to'see the works, and at the same time, restrict the numbers on your land, to manageable proportions.” Commenting, upon this request the board’s secretarymanager, Mr A. J. Sowden, said that there was a great amount of machinery at present in use on the new works at Lyttelton, and that this was a source of danger to the general public unless visiting was kept within limits. Mr W. B. Laing said that anyone conversant with the work going on would agree that there was undoubtedly a danger. He suggested that the works committee should make an inspection of the site to see what could be done.

He was supported by Mr G. Manning, who spoke of the building of a special platform at the Roxburgh hydro works from which visitors could view the operations without danger. “How could the engineers and workmen get on with their work with thousands of children there?” asked Mr W. F. McArthur.

The Transport Board’s request was “purely a commercial enterprise” and the previous decision should not be altered, said Mr J. Brand. If the schools had wanted to send parties of pupils to view the operations, the headmasters would have approached the Harbour Board themselves, he said.