BILLETS MAY BE NEEDED FOR 1000 TO 2000 CHILDREN

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 October 1948, Page 2

BILLETS MAY BE NEEDED FOR 1000 TO 2000 CHILDREN

Upwards of 1000 school children of all ages will be required to spend a night in Greymouth. as a result of the unexpected provision in the of-, ficial arrangments for the Royal visit to. Greymouth , for the official reception to take place on the morning after the arrival bf the, King and Queen and Princess Margaret m town. This problem which will have to be overcorrie locally was discussed at length at the meeting of the West Coast Royal Visit committee at Grey-mouth-last evening, when it was de-, cided to make an effort "to secure billets for the children. “The change in the reception time has certainly presented us with some problems,” said the Mayor, Mr F. F. Boustridge, pointing • out that many people, besides attending the official ceremony on ' Wednesday morning, would like to be in town when Their Majesties arrive on Tuesday evening. “I don’t .think the hotels will be able to cater for the children. and I think we will have to have a billetting committee. The town should be able to billet 1000 or even 2000 children for just one night,” he said, adding in re,ply to Mr P. J. McLean that both days, of the Royal visit would be declared public holidays. Mr G. Ormandy reported that recent'efforts to billet 150 schoolboy footballers had failed and accommodation had been found for. only 75. Mr Boustridge said that if all could not be found private accommodation there were a number of private halls and schoolrooms that could be used with the children suitably controlled. Mattresses and blankets could, perhaps, be obtained through the army. Catering for meals would be the difficulty in that case. Number of School Pupils

There were 3091 schoolchildren in West Coast .schools under -the Canterbury Education Board, said Mr L. B. Galbraith, and those from areas outside the Grey district numbered 1852. With children from the Marist and Convent schools it would appear, that billets would be needed for about 2000. ...It was pointed out, however, that probably the children from Hokitika and other nearby areas could return home after the fireworks and come back to Greymouth again the next day, and this would halve the number requiring’billets. Mr J. H. .Williams (Railways Department) said, that he could not tell whether transport arrangements, in such circumstances, would be difficult until he knew how many people were likely to be travelling, but he pointed out that it was unlikely that the Education Department would pay for more than one trip for the school children in the district. Mr Ormandy moved that the committee concentrate only on assembling the children in town for the official reception on Wednesday morning, but it was pointed out that this would not overcome the accommodation problem as children, who would require to travel some distances, would need to be here on the Tuesday. Committee to Discuss Problem

Mr W. Wick said that a committee of teachers was to discuss. the arrangements for school-children, apd would bripg down figures concerning the nufhber who would be visiting the town. Billets could then be sought for this number and, if the object was not achieved, considera-. tion could then be given to limiting the arrangements to-the Wednesday. After it had been qualified by excepting children from outlying r districts from the decision to concentrate on arranging for a gathering of school-children on Wednesday only, the motion was adopted. Messrs Galbraith, Wick, Collier, Young and E. M. Todd were appointed with a representative of the Marist and Convent schools, to a committee to discuss the arrangements, for children.