8
-
28
9
42. Government already has a Gardens Department which cares for various gardens, grass covered grounds and recreation grounds, and we are therefore of the opinion that the main problem to be faced in implementing the scheme will be one of finance, owing to the need for extra staff, machines, and materials. We consider however, although not in a position to quote figures, that the major part, if not all, of this extra expense can be covered by the fee charged without that fee being placed at too high a level.
43. Owing to the fact that the grounds within the Race Course at Wong Nei Chong, which we understand, cannot by Law be enclosed, great difficulty is experienced in keeping these in any sort of condition. Under an Official Keeper on duty, it should be possible to keep these grounds in much better condition. The same, of course, applies to unfenced grounds in King's Park.
44. Grounds that could be made immediately available for this scheme would be
(a) in King's Park
area E, East and West
area F, and F. and area H.
(b) at Wong Nei Chong.
All grounds within the Race Course subject to agreement of the Combined Services and possibly A,
45. With regard to the grounds now allocated to the Services at Wong Nei Chong, such a scheme should be to the advantage of the Services, since they would bear only the cost of the actual games played and not the total cost of maintenance. The recommendation at (f) in part III should ensure that sufficient allocation is made to the Services to prevent any hardship to the Service man.
46. It is because of problems of the nature set out in the foregoing that we resolved to recommend that a Separate Authority be set up to make allocations. Such an arrangement would leave the Superintendent of Gardens complete freedom to close a ground should he consider it necessary.
47. Moreover, we feel that the Competent Authority must of necessity be an Officer whose daily work touches upon the widest field in Recreation in the Colony, and we therefore recommend that the Organizer of Physical Education, on behalf of the Director of Education, be appointed the said Authority.
VII.
Hong Kong Cricket Club.
48. At Appendix V is a copy of a letter received from the President Hong Kong Cricket Club making representations in support of a request that the Club be permitted to retain their present ground. While we realize that there is nothing in this letter which has not been put to, and already considered by Government, we feel that the Club fulfils a more than useful function in the Colony and that, if it were possible to allow it to remain, then, in normal circumstances, this would receive the strongest recommendation from us.
49. We, therefore, unanimously resolved to recommend:
(a) "that the Hong Kong Cricket Club remain in occupation of their present ground and clubhouse unless, or until, that ground and clubhouse are required for a public purpose, or for the improvement of the Colony."
(b) "if, and when, such requirement arises then this Club shall be offered the portion at the Southern end of the grounds within the Race Course at Wong Nei Chong. We further recommend that if, and when, it appears that the ground may be required the Club should be given at least three years notice.
50. We would emphasize that for over thirty five years, the Colony Open Lawn Tennis Championships, the "Wimbledon" of Hong Kong have been organized by the Hong Kong Cricket Club at their ground to the complete satisfaction of everyone.
51. We wish to express the hope that it may be many years before the club will be deprived of this historic ground which is regarded as the "Home" of Cricket in the Colony much as "Lords" is regarded the "Home" of Cricket in England.
VIII.
Other Playgrounds in the Urban Area.
52. Our survey of other recreation areas in the urban area a list of which appears in Appendix VII revealed that these could be classified into 3 main groups.
(a) Those which are maintained by the Superintendent of Gardens.
(b) Those which were formerly allocated to Voluntary Associations, prin-
cipally the Children's Playground Association.
and (c) Certain special cases such as the King George V Park at Jordan Road,
Kowloon, the old G.C.H. site in Hong Kong, and certain other areas.
53. Consideration of the present state of these grounds show one significant characteristic, namely, that all grounds in group (a) were completely rehabilitated in marked contrast to those under (b) and (c) which remain nothing more than hard open spaces. With regard to these latter unrehabilitated grounds, our attention was drawn to the fact that, actually, one only, of these grounds, had been reallocated to the Children's Playground Association since 1945, and we noted that although the Associa- tion was erecting a large Recreational Centre on this ground, for the past four years, the ground has in fact remained nothing but an open space. From the evidence sub- mitted for our consideration, we are of the opinion that in the extraordinarily increased population of the Colony and the increased demand extant for outdoor recreation, it is impossible to expect Voluntary Associations to maintain such grounds in good condition and to enforce regulations made for the control of these grounds. It seems to us that the maintenance and policing of such areas should be a Government responsibility in the same way as that responsibility is that of the Local Authority in England and elsewhere.
54. We considered fully the possible effect of the placing of such grounds under official control upon the future of the Voluntary Associations and we feel that, far from discouraging these Associations, such action would, in fact, relieve the Associations of a serious burden, and would enable them to direct their energies along the lines of their proper function which in our view, should be to provide additional facilities, to organize play on the grounds, and to provide the stimulus and the machinery for local residents to take an active interest in their own recreational space. Such placing of these grounds under official control would eliminate the main drawback to problem of maintenance, which under Voluntary Associations depends entirely on the enthusiasm of the personnel responsible. We therefore unanimously recommend as follows:-
"That all small recreation grounds, Children's Playgrounds, and rest parks in the Urban Area, excluding those under the control of the Hon. the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, or "S.C.A. Incorporated", be placed for purposes of maintenance under the same authority as that for pool grounds namely, the Superintendent of Gardens."
55. This, in our opinion, has the advantage that all expenditure would then be concentrated under one head. Further, we are of the opinion that, as in the case of the Competent Authority for the allocation of grounds, an Advisory Committee should be set up, to whom the Superintendent of Gardens could turn for assistance and who would be responsible for matters of policy in regard to these grounds. We are of the opinion that the following Government officers should be 'ex officio' members of this Committee:
(a) Chairman, Urban Council.
(b) Director of Education.
and (c) Social Welfare Officer.
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