Crowd urged to be early for F.T.C. procession

Press, 19 November 1982, Page 3

Crowd urged to be early for F.T.C. procession

People wanting to watch the procession through the centre of Christchurch on Sunday are urged by the Ministry of Transport to arrive early. Chief Traffic Officer G. W. Hames said those people arriving for the procession at 1.30 p.m. and expecting to get close to the route were wasting their time. The procession will start at 2 p.m. “Last year 50,000 watched the parade and this year it is on a Sunday afternoon for the first time and so there should be more,” he said. .

The Ministry of Transport will man 25 points during the procession in addition to “mobiles.”

“It is going to be a major crowd and so it is important for those going to get there early, Mr Hajnes said. Last year traffic was parked as far away as the D.B. Riccarton Hotel.

Fifty-seven different groups will be represented in the procession, organised by the Farmers’ Trading Company. Floats, marching girls,

bands, vintage cars, and clowns and trick cyclists will again be prominent, as well as Father Christmas.

The procession will start at the corner of Park Terrace and Armagh Street at 2 p.m., and travel south on Rolleston Avenue to Montreal Street, thence to Armagh Street and Victoria Square, where it will stop outside the Farmers’ store.

Parking during the procession will not be allowed on the north side of Cambridge Terrace between Rolleston Avenue and Montreal Street. No parking will be permitted on both sides of Armagh Street between Oxford Terrace and Colombo Street and there will be no parking in Park Terrace where the floats will assemble. The area in Cranmer Square east between Armagh Street and Kilmore Street has been set aside for country buses. Cars will not be allowed to park there. Ministry of Transport officers will be in position from 1 p.m. City Council parking buildings will not be open.