HEALTH CAMP

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 25049, 13 November 1944, Page 7

HEALTH CAMP

PAKURANGA SITE DELAYS STILL CONTINUE Contrary to optimistic forecasts made from time to time, there now seems to be no prospect of the Pakuranga Health Camp site, near Pigeon .Mountain, being available for'the use of children for some considerable time. The Auckland central council of the Dominion Federation of Health Camps has decided to postpone the erection of buildings until more materials and labour are available, and so far all that has been done is the putting down of a bore for water and the erection of fences.

The present site of 20 acres near Buckland's Beach Avas selected as a children's health camp in December, 1940, some time after the site originally chosen had been taken over by the Government for the .Musiek Memorial radio station. It was hoped at that time that work would ho begun on the buildings in March, 1941, and that the camp would be ready for occupation in the following November. In May, 1941, it was announced that the actual site of the main buildings had been selected. They were to cost upward of £40,000 and to provide permanent accommodation for 100 children, with temporary accommodation for 150 more. In October the position was that tenders were to be called shortly for the camp buildings, but in December, 1942, it was announced that building restrictions had made it impossible to proceed. Optimism predominated again in December of last year, when the Auckland council reported that it had been

assured that labour and materials would be made available soon after Christmas, and that in three or four months the camp should be completed. After inspecting the site again last April, the Minister of Health, Mr xsordmeyer, said: "It may be taken for granted that at least a portion of the buildings will be erected m time to take children for next summer. At the present time the Auckland central council is seeking to arrange temporarv accommodation for the children in a disused military camp, the Dominion Advisory Board of the New Zealand Federation of Health Camps is to meet in Wellington on Wednesday and it is hoped that after that it will be possible to make arrangements tor a summer campFISHING WATERS PLAN TO INCREASE FOOD The value of using suitable fertilisers in fishing waters to stimulate the growth of plant lile and increase the supply of food for fish is emphasised in a statement from the Department of Internal Affairs. As a result of a suggestion by the Minister of Internal Affairs. Mr Parry, experiments with bags of superphosphate suspended in the water in certain trout-fishing areas around Tatipo and Rotorua are being made. The object is to stimulate the growth of plant life, especially microscopic, which serves as lood for organisms devoured in turn by larger ones up the scale until the food supply of trout is increased. Results obtained in England from similar experiments supported the Minister's anticipation of success in New Zealand. "I wish to see a big extension of the experiment that we have begun in New Zealand," said Mr Parry. "When full information of the British operations is available similar treatment of suitable waters should be undertaken here."