Hanmer Pool Deserves Government Help

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32312, 2 June 1970, Page 14

Hanmer Pool Deserves Government Help

The Prime Minister should give a favourable reception to the deputation from the Canterbury Progress League and those associated with the league in their efforts to raise money for a new thermal pool at Hanmer Springs. Mr Holyoake should also ensure that there is a clear statement from the Health Department on what its plans are for the thermal waters once it relinquishes control of the Queen Mary Hospital later this year. A new pool is expected to cost $lOO,OOO. Two interested parties—the Amuri County Council and the residents of Hanmer Springs—are prepared to find $40,000; they want the Government to provide the rest They appear to have a strong case, especially as the Health Department seven years ago included $40,000 in its estimates towards the cost of a new pool Efforts to replace die old pools, which have remained remarkably popular in spite of their antiquated design, deserve a better hearing than they were given by the two Cabinet Ministers who attended the meeting of interested parties on Saturday. The Associate Minister of Finance (Mr Pickering) gave it as his personal opinion that the Government would refuse to help—an odd admission that, in spite of ample notice of the meeting, he had been unable to obtain from his colleagues any firm declaration of Government policy, but nevertheless encouraging to the extent that the Government is presumably still open to be persuaded of the merits of the proposals. The Minister of Tourism (Mr Walker) could only suggest a resort to lottery funds for help; and he admitted this source would provide less than half the amount required. The springs have long been, and still are, an important attraction to New Zealand holidaymakers and travellers. Properly developed, they should be equally attractive to tourists. Without its pools the outlook for Hanmer Springs township would be grim. About 80,000 persons have used the pools each year for the last three years, according to figures given by Dr T. W. Harrison, of the Queen Mary Hospital, last November. There has been considerable investment, not least by the Automobile Association, in facilities to cater for visitors, who will stop going to Hanmer if a public pool is no longer available when the hospital is handed over to the North Canterbury Hospital Board. The township and its pools are a public asset which must be preserved; the Government should provide the necessary assistance before it is too late.