The Press FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1971. Heartening unanimity on the Games pool

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32553, 12 March 1971, Page 8

The Press FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1971. Heartening unanimity on the Games pool

Christchurch local body representatives gave a heartening display of unanimity yesterday when they met to discuss a swimming pool for the Commonwealth Games. County and borough representatives are to be congratulated on their capacity to treat the metropolitan area as a single unit, in spite of local divisions; their general agreement that more than half the estimated cost of the pool should be financed by the six councils concerned on the basis of population, with the City Council alone finding the remainder, is an eminently sensible solution to a sensitive issue.

The City Council’s share will still be substantial, but yesterday’s meeting should have removed the prospect that city ratepayers might either have to face the cost of the pool—up to $1.5 million —alone, or else suffer the indignity of having the games moved elsewhere. Representatives must now report back to the three counties and two boroughs involved with the city in sharing the pool costs; their councils are not likely to reverse the decision although the Paparua County Council—which faces the prospect of having to renovate Denton Park for the games cycling events —may have some reservations.

The meeting’s general agreement on remodelling of the Centennial Pool as the site has also given a lead on an issue which has generated considerable heat this year. Reservations expressed by Waimairi County Council representatives, however, may still find an echo in the public at large. Canterbury swimmers will not welcome the prospect that the Centennial Pool will not be available for competition and training for more than two years immediately before the games. Only the Jellie Park lido pool and Dudley Park pool, at Rangiora, are alternatives of a similar size; neither is particularly suitable as a venue for Christchurch swimmers to train.

Reservations about the amount of parking available near the Centennial Pool may prove to be unfounded, but there is still some uncertainty that the City Council will be able to acquire easily the land to the east of the present pool needed for reconstruction. Lunch-time swimmers in the city will be sorry to lose the use of the pool for the next two summers, and equally sorry that when the new comnlex is finished it will be enclosed and airconditioned, rather than open to the sun. The Mayor has said it may still be possible to provide a new lido-style pool in the eastern suburbs before too long, but the high cost of the games pool must surely make it unlikely that yet another pool will be built in the city for some years. Sites in the eastern suburbs for the games pool may have disadvantages; a pool at Burwood Park, or Queen Elizabeth II Park, for example, would have meant an additional asset for the city in suburbs poorly served for swimming pools, as well as leaving the Centennial Pool available for other purposes.

But time is running out if a pool is to be finished for the games in January, 1974. General agreement on the financing of the project has set a truly metropolitan flavour for the games preparations which must soon be under way in earnest. This hard-won agreement should not now be prejudiced by acrimonious debate over alternative sites.