Park support guarded

Press, 2 October 1979, Page 6

Park support guarded

An attempt by Orana Park to get moral support for a grant application to the Local Authorities Community Facilities Fund has received lukewarm support [from local authorities.

Orana Park is seeking $281,000 from the fund over a three-year period to subsidise development of the second stage of its 40ha “African plains” section, consisting of a “desert area” for ostriches, camels, eland, oryx, wild ass and barbary sheep; “savannah plains” for zebra, antelopes, cheetah, giraffe, gazelle and white rhino, and “river marsh” for water buck, hippo and sitatunga.

The estimated cost of the whole development is $523,000, an additional $320,000 being needed to buy animals.

The Orana Park Trust Board sought the Paparua

County Council’s sponsorship for an application to the community facilities fund, but the council referred the matter to the Canterbury United Council, as it had already agreed to support another application for the Warren Park pavilion. A meeting of the council last evening heard that the United Council had refused to sponsor Orana Park’s ap-

plication; the County Chairman, (Mr J. Y. Pethig), said the park's case was not helped by the lateness of the application. The councillors decided to sponsor the park’s application, with the proviso that their sponsorship of this project did not prejudice the chances of their earlier commitment to the Warren Park pavilion.