“HOT AIR.”

Grey River Argus, 5 March 1929, Page 3

“HOT AIR.”

Swimming Centre. I REPLY TO CR ROBERTSON. The remarks made by Cr Robertson at the last meeting of the Borough Council, anent the control of swimming locally, came in for som e strong criticism by the President of the West Coast Swimming Centre, Mr H. Rattray, at the conclusion of last night’s meeting of the Centre. Mr Rattray drew attention to the amount of criticism that was being levelled at the Centre, which he. thought needed answering. In his! opinion, had the building o f the Baths] been left to the Borough Council, they I would never have been in existence to-, day. The credit of thei r erection belonged to a number of residents, principal amongst whom was Dr McKay. By their efforts the sum of £3OOO was raised, of which £6BO had been given by the Borough Council. It could thus be seen that the public had built thei Baths, and the Council had purchased! them for £6BO. Cr Robertson had; stated that the question of charges was causing dissatisfaction in the town. There may be something in that statement, but why should the Council cry out about losing revenue, and then want to reduce the charges. To his (the speaker’s) mind, the price of concession tickets was very reasonable, and he could quote cases where the purchasers had saved several shillings in comparison to the previous year, when there were no concession tickets, but the charge was 3d, as against 6d this year. Cr Robertson had remarked that “the Council was being bled by the swimming authorities,” but the boot was on the other foot. When representatives of the Swimming Centre had met the Borough Council as an Advisory Committee, the Council had stood up to receive 20 per cent, of the gross takings. After some discussion, this was agreed to, but the Centre had understood this, on the word of the Mayor, Mr Greenslade, t 0 be a purely tentative arrangement, which was also substantiated by Cr Kitchingham and the Town Clerk, Mr Denton. Now, however, the Council had stated that agreement was to be enforced. Cr Robertson had also remarked ‘‘that the people who controlled swimming did not realise the benefits derived by its provision.” This was an utterly untrue statement, as could be seen when it was realised what an immense amount of work had been done by those in control of swimming in fostering the sport on the Coast, including a visit from the three N.Z. lady champion, swimmers, whose primary object in coming was to coach school children. Baths were not for speed swimming, but to encourage children and others to learn to be proficient in what was a most healthy sport. Councillors had also criticised the Centre’s attitude towards swimming carnivals. It must be clearly understood that no body can run a carnival without the permission of the local Centre, as this rule was laid down by the N.Z. Swimming Council. Of course, a body could get permission to run one from the Borough Council, but anyone competing would be disqualified by the Centre. The Borough Council had passed a resolution that no carnivals be allowed unless under the control of the Centre, and in view of this he thought that Cr Kitchingham had not played the game when he had endorsed Cr Robertson’s remarks. Cr Robertson had also remarked on the manner in which carnivals were postponed, and had told him (Mr Rattray) that they should be postponed from night to night. This was an entirely unreasonable request, as would be realised if it was clearly understood what a great amount of work was entailed in running a carnival, and it could hardly be expected that those in control could give all thei r time to swimming.

Coming again to the finance. Mr Rattray quoted figures to show that the Council were not losing money. In fact, the Centre had spent some £25 in improving the seating accommodation, purchasing a polo ball, ropes and corks, money that should have been paid by the Council. Cr Robertson’s main point was to endeavour to show that the Council was being fleeced. It should b e remembered that the weather had militated against a good season. Carnivals set down for January 4th and 12th, had to be postponed, which resulted in a loss of £4 for advertising. On January 17th a carnival had been run which brought in £37 15s 6d, while the expenses amounted to £3B 19s, leaving a deficit of £1 3s 6d, and then th e Council maintained they were entitled to 20 per cent, of the £3B 19s. The last carnival had shown the small margin of profit of 16s 2d, but that mattered nothing to the Council, who still demanded their 20 per cent, of the gross takings. These figures justified what the Centre and Club had done, and Cr Robertson’s remarks were merely “hot air,” and if he really had the interests of the Baths at heart, he would take off his coat and help. After a little more discussion, Messrs Rattray.. Gieseking. Baillie and Walters were appointed a Committee t 0 meet the Council.