PARK PREFERRED

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 12797, 28 February 1936, Page 5

PARK PREFERRED

: FUTURE RACINCr .LOCALLY ■ P.B.T.C. MEMBERS’ DECISION. , ANIMATED DISCUSSION CLUB COMMITTEE RESIGNS ' Decisions of the greatest importance to racing in this district were reached at a. special meeting of : nvember,s of the Poverty Bay Turf Club yesterday- Keen interest was displayed: and the attendance was about- 60 out of a membership of. just over ICO. The < old issue of choice of courses, the Park against Makaraka/ proved’the main source of dischsion and okas eventually dcc-kled) >hy 54. votes to 20j’that future racing •’.should be at the Parky the' Committee’ to 1 dispose of tlrt'"‘Ma'lcafaka. course as it , deems host, in the interests of the club. As .this was in conflict with the decision of the club committee, that body later intimated that it had resigned on bloc. . • At the club’s annual meeting,. a special, committee was set up -to investigate and report on the best means of improving and making more popular ra'cing in this district. A rc port was subsequently presented to the club committee, but this was not .'adopted and yesterday’s general meeting was then arranged in order to 'secure the general feeling of members on the proposals. outlined. The club president, Mr G. M. Reynolds, who was in the' chair, briefly outlined the purposes of the meeting pointing, out that the. special committee’s report had been considered by the club committee and turned down by a narrow majority. The com mittec, however, considered that, the report 'should he placed before' a . general. meeting .and consequently the present meeting was called. The special committee’s report, was them bead, this being as follows: “Your committee considers that the finances of the club are in a strained 1 condition, and that the amount. now owing to the Union Bank of Australia, Ltd., is getting very close to. the danger line. “In the opinion of the committee, the value of the property, excluding the appointments, which add little value to the property from , the point of .view of an invesment, is in the region of £6OOO. There is owing to the hank at the present time approximately £4500, The average annual Joss over the last three years amounts to approximately £550. ' “We have considered carefully two alternatives (1): To continue in occupation of and to hold future race meetings at Makaraka, and • (Site sell- the Makaraka property and to race upon the Park course, provided suitable tenancy arrangements could be made wjth the Gisborne Domain Board,- and have come ,to the conclusion .that in the interest, of Tacing in the district the latter course is preferable. We have considered the relative ■suitability of the two courses from a racing point of view, and the relative annual outlayPARK COURSE BENEFITS “In our opinion, based on our own knowledge, and from inquiries made from horse trainers and owners, the Park course is the more suitable for general racing purposes for the following reasons: (1) It is situated closer to the main centre of population. the Gisborne borough; (2), it is suitable for racing at all seasons of the year, owing to the nature of the soil; (3) it is ideal for training purposes ; (4) that the most- popular racing in this' district is the winter meeting, and to held a winter meeting at Makaraka. must always be attended with considerable risk: (5) it provides better facilities and more scope for a steeplechase course. “We have weighed in the balance the more elaborate appointments at Makaraka, but consider that the appointments at the Park are sufficient for -a, number of years, and that the other advantages of the Park outweigh this circumstance. “As a result j’Otir committee, although not entirely,unanimous, is definitely of the opinion that the Park course is the more suitable for racing- “ Your committee, therefore, in furtherance of its decision, wrote' to the Borough Council to inquire the terms upon-whieh a lease of the Park could he obtained. In amplification of the council’s reply, it should ho slated that the club would he entitled to the benefit of all ■ sub-lettings for grazing,’ racing and golf, and trie council would prohibit the use of the grounds by persons other than Racing Club patrons. “On 'ai sale the estimated value of the Makaraka property, which we have formed,.. a sum -of £ISOO or thfreabouts could be held in reserve. !. ■: ' ■' SMALL ANNUAL SAVING ‘ :Tho estimated expenditure and receipts at the Park as compared with at Makaraka, assuming usual expenses of racing to be the same as either place, is as follows —Makaraka — Expenditure : Interest, £2OO \ . insurance, £65; rates, £3O; training, £so—total, £352. Receipts: Rent, £150; excess of cx pvnditure, £2O2—total, £325. ■—Park— Expenditue: Borough rent, £225; insurance, £10; rent of buildings (say) £SO; upkeep of track, £loo— Receipts: Hunt Club, £2O; training fees, £7O; golf, first year, £3O, green fees, £2O; sub-lease, grazing, and cottage, £80; excess of expenditure, £l6s—total, £395“This' would effect an annual savin o- of £37 per annum. No account , has been taken of interest on the. reserve fund. • k.-j - “A minority of the committee contends that training could in the meantime be arranged elsewhere, the Makar course could be used for both summer and winter racing, and that should racing return to anj -

I thing like. former prosperity a training track could then be laid 1 down, thus preserving «aT freehold' course with its valuable buildings and appointments. Tho an«ljority of. thecommittee, however., 'does not agree that the solution of the present difficulties and the future of racino- in the district demands spna.e such* nr-j l-angement as the committee has proposed.” OPINION OF PRESIDENT Commenting on the report, the pr G sident stressed, that it had simply been, narrowed down to the old, old battle of the two courses, apparently the crux of the position in the committee’s view- Actually the reporthad proved very disapopinting to him both because of its narrowness and the .actual recommendation. It seemed to him a great pity to sacrifice a course worth £16,000 for racing, simply for the sake of, according to the committee, farm land worth 16000. If the committee’s recommendation were carried into effect, it would moan a loss of £ ; 1Q,000, which appeared very foolish to throw away If they lost the Makaraka, course

now, Poverty Bay would never again have -a chance of securing a. freehold | course, for it would rneaii paying nr ' least £20,000Dealing with the suggested lease of -the Park, Mr Reynolds stated that this would be for 21 years, the club to have the right to use the course for racing nine days a. year. A rental of £225 would have to- be paid the borough and also a. further £SO for the buildings. Moreover, the interests of campers and golfers would havg to be protected, though he did not know exactly what- this imported. He was a. golfer himself, and how the players were to avoid hitting horses which were training he could not see. Campers, too, in a place like that would be a continual, infernal nuisance, and bound to lead to friction. Apparently, the committee wished the club to be run a,s a. country club, but he could not see why a racing club should do that

MAKARAKA TRAINING

Makaraka admittedly had disad-. , vantages especially in regard to train ing, continued the president. If they could carry on for another five years, however, lie believed they would be able ,to arrange training facilities. In the meantime, by ararngement, they had the use of the Park for this purpose. The hank overdraft to-day stood at £4OBO which was £7OO unk dor the limit, so that it- was appar- * ent that, the club was- making progress, as that was a reduction on a vear ago. They should, therefore, hang to the course as long as they can. (The last throe meetings had produced profits, the last fixture a surplus of £ll4, the spring meeting £l4 and l the winter fixture £IBO. Mr D- -T. Barry: That last meeting mentioned was at the Park. Mr F. W. Nolan : It is still the club's: profit. “Where did the money come from to rod-uce. the overdraft ?” asked Mr H. IT. Dods. _\J r Reynolds replied that it was derived from the profits, rent, etc. A rebate was also duo from the Government and this would reduce the overdraft to well below £4OOO. Ho then moved that the special committee’s report ho not adopted. This was seconded by Mr S. D. Nathan. Mr iW. G- Shc-rratf intimated that he wished, to move that the committee he supported, hut the chairman ruled this out as being a direct negative. Mr F. Tolerton remarked that he had heard the club had lost two racing days. The chairman remarked that, the days had been merely given up for -4 the season and that there was no sug gesti'on of them being lost. “No, we haven’t lost any days'*, agreed Mr F. W. Nolan. ‘‘l believe we will have difficulty in getting them back”, said Mr Tolerton.

“CAMP'AIGN’ ’ ALLEGATIONS Mr F. W. Nolan stated that he strongly supported the motion. When amalgamation of the two clubs was discussed some years ago, the first proposal was that Aiakaraka should he sold, and all racing carried on at the Park. This however, was not acceptable to the Tlirf Club and the. .amalgamation was subsequently arranged with the' condition that the Park revert to the guarantors and he disposed of by them- "There can he no doubt”, he added, “that, since the amalgamation, a campaign has been carried on to bring about the sale of Makaraka* a.nd for all racing to be at the Park.” “I rise to a. point of order and I would like to know the speaker's authority for that statement”, said Mr W. G. Shcrratt: Mr Nolan: Most men in the room know that. Mr Barry: 1 dispute that statement, too. Mr Nolan: I don’t accuse any particular man or organisation. Mr Barry: What dp you mean by a ‘campaign” P Mr Nolan: Everybody in the room 7 knows it—and you hear it all over the place. Mr A. G. Turnbull: It has been more discussed by the public than any other aspect of racipg locally. Proceeding, Mi- Nolan said' that the club was- informed the special committee’s report would cover racing from Ituatprja' to Wairpa. yet tho report did nfit even mention places outside; Gisborne. It was apparent from the report that the only matters considered 1 was whether Makaraka could he sold and tire Park course leased in its place. MAKAR AKA’S SPECIAL VALUE As Mr Reynolds had stated, added Mr Nolan, the Makaraka. property was a very valuable .-asset- All present. kngw vfgll that, for racing pptpejsos, a- large sum had to .he expended on improvements which were useless for any ptbpr purposes, notably stands, totalisator house, fencing tic. All this gave the property, a high value as a. racing proposition} but not for any other purpose. Ac-

cord i me to the last- balance sheet, the Makaraka property was placed at tire low value of £2849; the club’s improvements, over a long period of years and subject to substantial writing down for depreciation, stood at £8291 —a total value of ovc* £II,OOO. All present knew what the improvements were, so lie did not. propose to refer to them in detail. Moreover, all would admit that the Park was better for winter racing; but, for all meetings apart from the mid-winter fixture, Makaraka was as good as, if not better than, the Park. Por many years past, Mn.karaka bad come in for warm praise from outside owners, for : t had a long straight, was very wide and was a. very safe course. As a winter course moreover, Makaraka: compared very favorably with other courses in the Dominion; he would venture to gay .that Treptham and Ellerslie, in winter, provided worse conditions than would be seen at Makaraka. F r om the point >of view of racing all the year round, he submitted that Makaraka was a 1 perfectly satisfactory, and good course, comparing more than favorably with those ;in other places. The special committee says that £6OOO might be received through the sale of Makaraka, continued Mr Nolan, but that, seemed -an outside estimate; The buildings, would have to be sold for breaking up and were unlikely to realise more than £IOOO. Apparently, therefore, a property now valued at £II,OOO was. to be disposed of for £5500' or £6OOO at the best. By the time the bank overdraft etc., had been liquidated there would be only £IOOO in hand and a fine free hold property would be lost for all time, with no chance of again acquiring it. In exchange the club would be taking the lease of a- property sub ject to the rights of campers,. golfers, and others. REVENUE ESTIMATES CRITICISED Mr Nolan commented that one es-. Innate of revenue was £SO by green fees from! the golf club at tho Park, but in his opinion there would not be fivepence from that source. The Poverty Ray Golf Club was firmly established but he doubted whethei they received that amount from green foes, which Were paid by visitors to the town who would probably prefer to use the Poverty B»v course As if source of revenue this source could be disregarded in his opinion, Ml who played gulf would realise that gol-f und -horse training could net he carried on. at the same time. ■ The terms proposed for the lease, Mr Nolan considered, were sketchy in the extreme. Upe land, and Vuildings were to be taken over in their present condition -a.nd the club was apparently to he responsible for ull repairs. All present would know that these buildings were no logger young yet the club was asked to take them over and keep them in repair fqr 21 years. By the end of that time, it was probable that the club would share to completely rebuild them. This,-lease, moreover,

was offered by a Borough Council which favored racing but. it was quite possible that a later council would not lie in favor of the course and so would: take advantage of any loophole to cancel the lease. If that ofiourred what could the club then doi? There was no other site handy to Gisborne, where the club could race. The Turf Club bad carried on for over 50 years, for a large part of the time free of debt—as late ns 19,14 the club owed only a few pounds to tho bank. CAUSE OF RACING SLUMP Tho altered /inancial position of the club, stated Mr Nolan, was due entirely to. the unfavorable conditions for racing over the last few years. Almost every other club in New Zealand bad suffered—the only exceptions being the metropolitan meetings and those very small clubs which had but one meeting a year, and ,so very small expense. AH clubs similarly situated a.s* the local ono had. had the utmost difficulty in weathering the storm. The present overdraft of £<.looo odd would be substantially lessened when the Government •subsidy of £l7O came toi hand, there then being some £Boo' or £9OO between 'the overdraft- and the authorised limit. It seemed to him rank folly to part with the freehold for, if retained, the course would lie there for all time. If the club took on the P'ark lease fo 21 years, there would be little chance of a. renewal, for, should Gisborne expand as was to be expected, it would be impossible to retain the Bark. If they parted with Makaraka. they would lose something which wald have been there, for all time. There was no need for such -a. drastic step, if: they weathered the financial! storm, as they were apparently doing. Losses over recent veais had t baen due to exceptional circumstances and the last few meetings had resulted in profits each time By watching the position carefully they could carry on with good prospects for tho future. IMPROVED OUTLOOK The outlook all round was brighter .stated Mr Nolan, and clubs elsewhere had recorded substantial improvements. When the position had improved 'further here they could give higher .stakes and 'thus attract better class horses, so reviving the interest, which, had been lacking in recent years- They should do their utmost to retain for racing the free-, hold property owned by the T'urf Club, for it would be a' disaster to lose, such a fine ground. He asked the meeting to believe that party feelings had' not swayed them in the slightest. With all others he wished to see. racing as- successful here as it had been over the past half century. “I am very sorry that Mr Nolan remarked there was a conspiracy to p'gll 'the Makaraka course”, said Mr W. G. Sherratt. Mr Nolan: "I did not use that Word.” Mr Eherratt; “You referred to a movement.” Mr Nolan : “Quite different entirely”

Air Shcrratt: “I know nothing of any such movement. It is only a matter of finance. I think the remedy is to soil Makaraka and ' cOme nearer 41 io town, so that, 'the public can get. to the course more easily. The report was made in very good faith. If the .club goes out Euntorm and Tolnga Bay will lie in a bad way and will probably go out- Wairoa. also would be severely hit. If the next meeting is not. field, then the bank may ask us to close up. DISPUTE OVER. MOTIONS Air Barry said that he could not follow Air Nolan’s statement-. Tho pre sent move was in opposition to the original error. The guarantors had carried out under the terms, of their contract. The people wore howling out, hut they were entitled to their opinions. While, golf was being played. there would be little or no training (in progress for most of the latter was carried out in the early morn ing. The campers should give little trouble and there was little real difference in the appointments of the two courses. During the last few years the Turf Club, had lost'.’£Booo. The members’ stand at Makaraka was. little used and the public stand was not ns good as' that at the Park. The difference in the figures had little significance. They had to think what it would cost the ,Turf Club to proivde training facilities. The difficulty of providing ,a. steeplechase course at Makaraka was almost insurmountable. Opposition had arisen from the public and, as members ©¥ tho club were really trustees for the public, they should try to carry out their wishes. If they missed the opportunity it would be a great error. VIEWPOINT OF OWNERS Air H. (H. Dods intimated that he wished to' ppt forward arguments on behalf of house owners who had kept racing going though the difficult four or six years past. After an inspection of Aiakaraka, he was firmly of opinion. that it coukl not be transformed into a. course for winter training without'great expense. On the other hand there oould bei to better training track than that at the P'ark. Moreover, a. -steeplechase courise

could not be made at. Aiakaraka., whereas at the Park there were notural advantages which could not be created .at the other course for thousands. Most owners favored {the Park They inspected Makaraka after (two days’ training qnd found the course full of holes .and unfit For use. If racing continued at Makaraka it would be necessary to' abandon winter meetings or incur great expense. Air F. Tolerton remarked that only committee members had Bo far spoken, whc:«*as he had thought' that others wav kl .also contribute something. He was. further sorry that this n criminous discussion had arisen, as it had been hoped to secure helpful views and so far there had been little gain. SAND TRACK ADVOCATED Mr R. Sherratt commented that it was not generally known that >sand lay within feet of the. surface at

Ara.kfira.lca. At one istago sand was put on the plough and for five months this was good. The speaker was isuro that if 1 yards of sand per eh ain were put on, it would make the plough fit. for galloping at any time. If they could do- that with the plough they could do the same with the gi'asV track. TTei believed that the sand eould he put there for 3s per chain.

Mr (Turnbull; stated that he laid. 7 yards per chain and the cheapest rate was Is 6d per yard. Mr iTT. MnOre commented that A rale a rak a wa.s a good summer course, hut. a; deadly one in winter. On the previous day it was quite impossible to gfdjpp there. Mr D. McKcaguo agreed that Malta ra-ka was ,-a. good course, hut pointed out that the difficulty lay in. providing training faeilites. Horses must he able it.o gallop on the grass as well as on the plough. For a- steeplechase meeting there was no better course in Now Zealand than the Park and that fixture , on past records, appeared the most important of the year. It. would he very expensive to make Makarnka into a steeplechase <.-anr.se. The club must depend on the public, said Mr G. 15- Oman, and they said 'there is nothing like the Park, where there is no fear of accidents and which is so handy to the townThe club would have right cof renewing the lease after 21 years. They must cater for the public and ho had heard outsiders say that the Park all round, was the host course in New Zealand. DANGERS OF SENTIMENT “Pacing is jy considerable asset to the town and the country as a whole”, said Mir TT. E. Maude. From the discussion, he continued, two points of vew became apparent —one of sentiment and the other of finance Ho couldi well understand those long associated with the Turf Club not wishing to give up something on which, from the inception, they had looked with pride, and did not desire to lose. He instanced a similar position which arose over the Gisborne Bowing Club—a good opportunity .for sale in the past, being miss od fo.r sentimental reasons and which to-day had proved to have been a short-sighted policy. It seemed to him that, unless conditions improved, the Turf Club would find itself in the same position as the Gisborne Racing Club. Apparently it could carry on. now, but continued losses would mean that the equity in the property vanishes. A comparison of the bank balances was rather misleading. Pie would inot like to sec sentiment enter in, if- it meant that racing were- lost to the. disrict. Guarantees were iniquitous in his opinion, fo-r 4it> seemed hard to call -on the guarantors to foot the bill while the members, who received the benefit, were left free. The- whole position had to he reviewed impartially- , Mr V. >Y. Carpenter asked, whether 'they were justified in parting with an asset to take on a lease bristling with (possible difficulties.

Mr J. .Blair stated that it seemed to him that the* report was' not sufficiently informative and it struck him that this moment of time was not the right one to decide a question which went to the root, of racing in this district. Such a radical change required examination in all its phases., An estimate of the cost of putting/ the Park buildings in order might well have been secured and another aspect was whether there was any guarantee that the lease would bo renewed at the end of 21 years and at what rental. His suggestion was* that it might be advisable to give closer ■consideration to some of the elements which affected the position.

In reply. Mr /Reynolds' stated' that in the matter of finance, it was hardly wise to throw away a freehold property for 'a property in which there was no security of tenure after 21 years. There was no right of renewal of the lease. When one considered the,history of the two clubs, it would he found that the Turf Club had ear-

ried on for CO years, while the Park club had been in. liquidation at least once. Mr ‘Barry recalled that the Park was orginally carried on by another club. The recent amalgamation was effected simply for the good k>f distliet racing in general. MOTION DEFEATED Messrs fit. H. Maude and F. Tolerton were appointed scrutineers and the motion was put. to the vote, the result- being announced as follows: — For the proposal 20 Against, the proposal... 31 Mr W. G. Shcn-att then moved as follows : “That this meeting authorises and directs the committee of this club to enter into arrangements for a lease of the Park course for the purpose of conducting future race meetings of the club at- that course and to deal with the Turf Club's property as the committee may decide is in the best interests of the club.” Mr ,T. L. Smaill .seconded the motion which was carried, without dission, on ai show of hands. In declaring the meeting closed. Mr Reynolds said': “This decision am o-unts to a- vote of no-confidence in the members of the. -committee who supported l me- and 1 will ask them to stay behind to consider our future course of action.'' Subsequently it was intimated that the whole committee had resigned and that. a. mretinß-'-would be called to elect a new committee.