THE CLIVE SQUARE MUDDLE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 67, 1 March 1911, Page 5

THE CLIVE SQUARE MUDDLE.

It is not often that a School Com- ; mittee can exercise much materi.il ! power in the ordering of affairs, ; but the Napier • District School ; Committee took such a prominent i part in the agitation against the acquisition of a portion of Clive Square for a theatre site that it is interesting to note the actions of this body after has assisted to force the borough into the expenditure of £6500 for land. A great cry was raised over the iniquity of the suggestion, having for its object the “ robbing of the children of their playground.” A weakkneed member of Parliament allowed the Bill promoted by the Borough Council to be thrown out, and the ratepayers had to provide £6500 for the purchase of the present site. Ink has hardly dried upon the documents when we find the committee discussing the requirements of the school in the matter of ground. True, the committee did not turn the complete somersault expected, but the discussion which has taken place shows clearly enough that the playground at present provided is by no means adequate to the requirements of the school, and an appeal has to be made to the department for a new-school reserve. Had Parliament passed the Bill promoted, the committee would have had the strongest possible case for calling on the department for a new school and grounds. The youngsters would have been pro- ; vided with a proper ground for ! their sports and play, and the i ratepayers of Napier need not have ! spent £6500 on purchasing land.