BIG SWEEPSTAKE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 849, 24 August 1933, Page 9

BIG SWEEPSTAKE.

Ambitious Plan Evolved at Rotorua. SUPPORT SOLICITED. Per Press Association. ROTORUA, August 24. A suggestion that a petition should be presented to the Government for permission to launch a monster international sweepstake on the lines of the Irish sweep for the purpose of developing Rotorua and its attractions as a national asset was submitted to the Rotorua Borough Council on Wednesday night by its Business Promotion Committee. The committee expressed the opinion that the unique attractions of the town and district could be developed to a tremendous extent if the Government could be persuaded to authorise a giant sweep. It was suggested that the co-operation of sports organisations and commercial interests in all parts of the Dominion should be solicited to support the request. Among other things, it was suggested that speedways for international motor and motor-cycle racing should be provided, that a pier should be built in the lake with a pavilion on the lines of Brighton, provision for aeroplane and seaplace racing, the development of Ngongotaha mountain scenic reserve by means of an electric railway to the summit, a special planting scheme to make Rotorua a typically New Zealand town and the development of \\hakarewarewa and Ohinemutu as typical Maori villages. The council decided that while these proposals were ambitious, the suggestions, viewed from the standpoint of Rotorua as a national asset, had definite possibilities and that the proposal to agitate for a national sweepstake should accordingly be supported.