EXTENSION NEEDED

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21244, 15 October 1940, Page 6

EXTENSION NEEDED

HAMILTON CONVENIENCES HEALTH OFFICER’S VIEWS COMMITTEE ADJOURNS INQUIRY The pressing need for more conl veniences and rest-rooms in various | parts of Hamilton Borough was out- | lined by Dr. C. B. Gilberd, Medical | Officer of the Department of Health 1 in Hamilton at today’s sitting of the j Committee of Inquiry. 1 The demand for these facilities, | said Dr. Gilberd, was fairly well I recognised, especially in view of the influx of visitors from surrounding , districts o*n Tuesdays and Fridays. | In addition there were special areas | where there was no provision for I sanitary conveniences, particularly j in Hamilton East, where a women’s j rest-room was urgently needed for • the use of shoppers. A similar need ; existed in the Frankton Junction | shopping area and on the Ferry Bank, ; where there were crowds of picnic- ! makers during the summer months, j The Marlborough Place conveniences was in a central location, continued Dr. Gilberd, and if the ventilation and surfacing could be improved for a reasonable cost it should be retained. Public Health Viewpoint In reply to a question from Mr F. A. Swarbrick, representing the Borough Council, Dr. Gilberd said that the facilities in Hamilton were inadequate and improvements were needed from the point of view of public health. j Mr H. M. Hammond, chairman of ' the Works Committee of the Hamilton Borough Council gave evidence showing that adequate amenities were needed for Hamilton East and Frankton in view of the many country people who used these suburbs as their shopping areas. The facilities which the Borough | Council had in mind for Hamilton East and Frankton were not pretentious, said Mr R. Worley, borough engineer, but the council felt that the existing women’s rest-room in Hamilton and the men’s convenience at Marlborough Place needed such expansion and repair that the cost would be unwarranted. Hence it recommended the erection of entirely new buildings, preferably in Garden Place adjacent to the main | parking area. I | Plans Drawn Up Before I Replying to a question from the j chairman, the Hon. J. Alexander, I M.L.C., Mr Worley admitted that the ! plans and specifications produced J were drawn up over two years ago. , Owing to the war situation the estij mates prepared on that occasion were I* now inadaquate. In view of the short notice Mr F. A. Swarbrick suggested that the inquiry should be adjourned and i that representatives of the Hamilton ] Borough Council, Waipa and Waikato /- County Councils should confer with I the Department of Health and decide ■ what would constitute adequate public conveniences from a health point of view. The borough engineer, in the meantime, could draw up amended plans and estimates for the provision of better rest-rooms and j conveniences in the borough. I The suggestion was agreed to by the committee and the inquiry was adjourned to a date to be fixed later.