The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro.” TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1935. QUEEN’S PARK

Southland Times, Issue 22510, 19 February 1935, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro.” TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1935. QUEEN’S PARK

In another column this morning there appears a letter referring to the golf links in Queen’s Park, and the Council’s decision to raise the rental to £52 a year, and it will be noticed that the correspondent emphasizes the fact that the Council was impressed by the continued reference to the annual expenditure of £72 on the upkeep of what was termed “the flanks of the links.” If what our correspondent says is correct, there is certainly ground for an explanation and solid ground, too, for the reconsideration of this question by the City Council, because it appears that not one pound of this seventy-two is really required by the golfers in Queen’s Park, and that a very large proportion of it is devoted to an area which is nothing whatever to do with the links, and which no golfers would use in the course of a game. It cannot be argued for a moment that if this contention is correct, the council is justified in presenting to the public an argument that the presence of the links involves the Corporation in a considerable outlay every year. That point neither the Chairman of the Reserves Committee nor any other Councillor has cleared up. Many years ago, the Queen’s Park Golf Club at the? request of the Corporation took over the control of that area of the park which is now under review, and took it over when it was infested with rushes, gorse, heavy tussock, and was marred by one or two extremely muddy patches. In the course of years a considerable sum, far more than the Corporation would have spent on the park, has been put into this area and to-day it is in excellent condition, and this has been achieved without any cost to the public, while at all times the public, if it so desired, has had the opportunity of using these areas. As a matter of fact, the public does not use these areas in large numbers, nor is it in the habit of using other park lands in the city for other than organized sport. The idea that the citizens desire to roam round and rest upon the park is put forward by more than one councillor, and yet the facts, as far as the Queen’s Park and other open spaces of the kind are concerned, are rather to the contrary. This is not surprising, for in these days of quick transport, the citizen who wishes to roam at ease usually goes abroad to the country or to the seaside. But quite apart from that point, the park to-day is in a better condition than ever before. It can be compared to any park land in the Dominion with advantage to itself, and the Corporation has been saved a considerable sum through the presence of the Golf Club in Queen’s Park. The control of golf links by the municipality is a costly business, as Wellington has discovered. The Director of Parks and Reserves in Wellington recently made up some figures in connection with the municipal links in Wellington, and these show that, disregarding the capital cost involved, the loss in about nineteen years has been about two thousand pounds on the main links, while the learners’ course has shown a deficit of one hundred and seventy pounds in three years. It is to be taken from this statement that he regards this as a successful enterprise, and of course, the assumption is that he looks on the expenditure of say £2200 over twenty years as a justifiable outlay for the provision of a golf course for the citizens. Accepting his argument, what could be better than the maintenance of an efficient golf club and up-to-date golf links within the city without any cost to the country? There has been no criticism of the management of the links by the Queen’s Park Golf Club and it is fair to assume, therefore, that the Corporation has no fault to find with the way the club conducts its affairs. If it drives the club off the links, it must either maintain the links itself, presumably .at a loss, or keep the park in the condition in which it now is. If citizens want to form any idea as to what that will cost, they need only consider the statement that the maintenance of what the Chairman of Reserves Committee calls the “flanks” of the golf links, costs seventy-two pounds per annum. As the area of these mysterious flanks is not disclosed it ’is not possible to reach an esti-

mate of the maintenance of the whole through a simple multiplication sum; but a very conservative estimate would be somewhere in the neighbourhood of £250, to which would be added, of course, the loss of rent from the Queen’s Park Golf Club. Unfortunately, there seems to be a desire to press the Queen’s Park Golf Club unduly, and there is a little suspicion that in the minds of one or two councillors at any rate, the purpose in raising the rent is punitive. It really does not matter whether this is the case or not. The bare facts are that the Council has treated the club, which deserves well of the citizens, rather shabbily, and in doing that has presented to the public statements which are not in accord with the facts, and which give an entirely wrong impression of the position.