MORE RESERVES

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 25, 29 July 1922, Page 7

MORE RESERVES

PLAYGROUNDS FOR THE FUTURE CONSTRUCTION BY THE NEEDY WORKS IN PROGRESS. —! ■ • hm'gs of a city in the form of pariis and open spaces, where both old and young may enjoy themselves, are really its chief asset. At one time Wellington was not particularly well off in this respect; but in later years, largely due to the enthusiasm of Councillor: W. J. Thompson, chairman of the Eeserves Committee, and the late Councillor G. Frost, former chairman of the committee, considerable leeway has been made up, and a liability to the community in general materially reduced. It will readily be conceded that much remains to be done in providing play areas for the children and an adequate number of grounds for footballers, cricketers, and other devotees of sport, but the fact that these are hard times and that the City Council's purse is not bursting with coin compels the practise of prudent economy. However, it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and if donations of money continue to come forward in plenty to assist the unemployed, the present period ol depression may be. the means of adding more speedily' to the number of playgrounds for the youth of the city. Tjixee important works of this character are now in progress, namely, improvements to Nairn-street Reserve, formation of Prince of Wales Park in Salisbury-terrace (off Wright-street), and,'the laying out of a play area for children at the top of Pirie-street, to the north of the entrance to the Kilbirnie Tunnel. REFORMING NAIRN-STREET RESERVE. i Nairn-street Pveserye has long been crying out for attention, but hitherto it has not been possible to put the job in hand. This has been a popular place for school football teams to play on, but owing to the clayey nature of the surface the grass has gradually disappeared, and the absence of efficient drainage has led to the greater portion of the play area being little better than a quaguire in wet weather. A dozen returned soldiers are now at work on the task of adjusting the level of the playing area and making the reserve suitable as another sports ground. To this end the City Council recently set apart a sum of £250 out of loan money to be used as a £1 for £1 subsidy for an amount of £250 received from the Poppy Day Fund of the Returned Soldiers' ■Association. This total of £500,.wi11, it is estimated, just be about .sufficient to enable the work to be completed to a point at which the ground can be made ready for use next winter. Notwithstanding the fact that the returned soldiers engaged on the job have not been life-time wielders of the pick and shovel, they are doing very creditable work. The ground is extremely difficult to navvy in, for a few inches below the surface'hard rock is encountered, but Mr. J. G. MacKenzie (Direc--tor of Parks and Reserves), under whoso supervision this and other reserves works is being carried N out, considers -that a very/good ground can be-formed. The whole area is to be suitably levelled to allow for proper drainage, and is to be top-dressed and grassed. When it is reformed, Nairn-street Reserve should be one of ' the most picturesque sports grounds about the city, as on a fine day the panorama from this high knob" of Wellington is unequalled. PRINCE OF WALES PARK.. ■ When His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales visited Wellington in 1920, the Wellington Rugby Union handed over £750, being the proceeds of a football match which the Prince attended at Athletic Bark, to be earmarked for the formation of a new sports ground to be named in honour of His Royal Highness. This additional area is being laid out at the edge of tie Town Belt off Salis-bury-terrace, which'lies at the back of the old John-street tip. With the money provided by the Rugby Union and an amount of £35 received from the Football Association, the City_ Council was able to carry out some preliminary levelling last year. As the result of its "Poppy" Appeal Fund, the Returned Soldiers' Association handed over a sum of £1000 to the City Council to be set aside as a means of providing employment for returned soldiers needing assistance. .- As mentioned above, portion of this money was devoted to the work at Nairnstreet Reserve, while £750, along with a similar amount taken out of city loan money, allocated for operations on Prince of Wales Park. -Some eighty-five returned soldiers were placed on the job, and the work they have done in the last five weeks is really wonderful. Certainly, their labours were considerably lightened by the fact that a firm of brickmakers had already removed a considerable quantity of clay—a\ fact which in itself has saved the City Council a good deal of money on excavation—but an enormous amount of cutting out and filling in has been done—and now the end has come owing to exhaustion of the sinews of war. Full wages were paid all the time to the men, and it could not be expected that the money would last for an indefinite period. On Thursday eighty-four of the "Diggers" had to ba put off, but, like they were accustomed to do in the days when "digging in" was part of their normal occupation of • war-waging, they accepted their fate cheerfully and. in a fine soldierly spirit. Before lining up for their n&y for the last time, someone suggested indulgence in a "community sing," an idea which was taken up with zest, and troubles of the moment were consigned to kitbags, from which were drawn memories of the lady from Armentieres, and the gentlemen concerned with the " rations up- the Line."

PRAISE FOR" THE SOLDIERS. High praise for the way in which the returned men worked at Prince of Wales Park was expressed to a Post repi'esentative by Councillox- Thompson, who sincerely regretted that there were not 'more funds available to permit of Ihe returned', soldiers—all of whom are married men, or single men with dependants—being kept on. The men, he said, were always in the happiest of spirits, and there was nothing in the nature of "go slow" about them. They each and every one justly earned their .money, and carried out their duties in a real soldierly manner. APPEAL FOB MORE MONEY, - With the progress mado by the returned soldiers since they have been engaged there, Prince of Wales Park could easily.be made available for play next w.inter, if, more money were only forthcoming aow. It is suggested that publicspirited . citizens might donate money solely for the purpose of employing returned soldiers to finish the work, and a sum of about £500 would nearly see tho job through. Theve is other work, such us the planting of shelter .trees, and the forming of a sloping bank at the northern end of the Park, which could bo done to put the' Park in really good order, but this could wait until

later on. If the play area were completed, it would permit of another fine sports ground being available next football season, besides providing a suitable recreation space for the students who will be attending the new Technical College. Prince of Wales Park i«' situated close to a thickly populated area and in the interests of children alone, for whom no proper ground is at hand, it is imperative that work on the Park should be pushed ahead. Unfortunately, the City Council would be unable to subsidise any future donations for the work, but such gifts »would help to relieve a good deal of distress among unemployed returned aoldiers and their families.

Although the money specially Bet apart for placing returned soldiers on the undertaking has run out, activities at Prince of Wales Park have not been suspended entirely. A few men drawn from the ranks of the ordinary unemployed are being given a! chance to earn a bit of money by doing some excavating work on the bank at the southern end, but it will be impossible to carry on for long unless more money is subscribed. PIRIE-STREET PLAY AREA.Among other undertakings which are being carried on as city relief works is the formation of the children's play area at the top of Pirie-street. Abont twenty men started this week on this job, for which £500 has been allocated out of loan money. A good jdeal of levelling has to be done here, but when this is finished, and shrubs and trees ■are planted round about, a fine large area of green sward will be available for boys' cricket and football an"d general recreational purposes.. .. . ■■ GOLF LINKS AT LYALL BAY. It is expected that profits from the Wellington Racing Club's Winter Meeting, which the club has offered to donate to unemployed relief, will amount to about £1100.. Exactly how this "moneywill be spent has not been decided, but it is suggested that'it might very well be devoted tt) preparing the way for the construction of municipal golf links at Lyall Bay, near to the Miraniar Golf Club's course. There is a need, it is claimed, for more links, and more suitable and convenient location than Lyall Bay can scarcely be imagined, more especially as the going at the municipal links at Berhaihpore is considered to be somewhat too strenuous for elderly people owing to the hilly nature 'of She course. Were money more plentiful, the Reserves Committee would be able to find plenty of work for the unemployed, but as things are it is impossible to do much more than what is being carried out. Certain ether works have been pro-, vided for by loan, and these will be gone on with as opportunity offers..