Bandstand Offer

 Received With Gratitude

Council Committee To Meet Donor

200 Deck Chairs Make A Stir

Mr. Spencer Critical Of District Medical Scheme

  Councillor John White’s offer to present a bandstand for Rushden Hall was received with gratitude at Wednesday’s meeting of the Urban District Council.

  The offer, which from the official point of view has been made anonymously, was recorded in the following report of the Parks, Baths and Hall Committee.

  “A letter was received, signed by the Hon. Secretaries of the various bands of the town, stating that an interested gentleman had offered to provide, subject to certain conditions, a bandstand in the Hall grounds to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary.  It was resolved to recommend the Council to instruct the Clerk to convey to the donor the grateful thanks of the Council for his magnificent offer.  It was also resolved to recommend that a special committee be appointed to confer with the donor and representatives of the bands on one or two points contained in the offer.”

Generous Offer

  “As most of you are already aware,” said Dr. Greenfield, “we had a very generous offer from a gentleman in the town to provide a bandstand in the grounds of the Hall.  I think we should all like to pass formally a resolution thanking him very much for his kind offer, but of course it places the committee in a very responsible position, and we did nothing but acknowledge the letter and place the matter before you.

  “We thought the best way of dealing with the matter would be to appoint a small sub-committee to see the gentleman who is going to provide this handstand and talk the matter over with him before we go any further.  I am sure it is an extremely generous offer made to the town, and will be welcomed by many of us.”

  The report was accepted, the resolution of thanks was adopted, and Messrs. Allebone, Greenfield, Coles and Green were appointed as the special sub-committee.

  Deck chairs for the Hall grounds caused a lot of discussion after the purchase of 200 at an approximate cost of £35 had been recommended by the Parks Committee.

Chairs For Hall

  “I think there is a very real need for deck chairs,” said Dr. Greenfield.  “We are going to make a small charge and keep it as low as possible provided that the chairs are properly used.  We think that, given a decent summer, a very small charge would cover the cost of these chairs and the cost of one of our men who would have to collect them, cover them up and issue tickets.  It would be a very great convenience.”

  Mr. Coles welcomed the proposal.  No-one, he said, would wish to criticise the Council for the provision of seats already made at the Hall, but these seats were often occupied by youths and girls of 16 and 17 and the grown-ups could not get a seat anywhere.  The deck chairs would provide an opportunity for anyone to get a seat.

  Mr. Roe had some questions.  Were they going to allow the people to take the chairs into any odd corner of the grounds?  Were they going to engage a man to see that they had a ticket, and that sort of thing?

  Dr. Greenfield replied in the affirmative.

May Need 800

  The Chairman (Mr. A. Allebone) suggested that the committee could work out the details.  “I firmly feel it is a step in the right direction to provide these chairs,” he said, “and that they will be appreciated.”

  Mr. Roe: But if you get the chairs and then find you cannot make proper arrangements, what is the position then?

  Dr. Greenfield replied that at the moment the intention was that the people who wanted to take a couple of chairs up the avenue and sit there could do so.  It depended very much on the public to see that the chairs were properly looked after.

  Mr. Sawford observed that if a bandstand was erected the Council would probably have an enclosure where they would want six or eight hundred chairs.

  Mr. Perkins: I have been to the park fairly often, and except when we have a big gala day there I don’t see 200 people there at a time.  I went there the other evening and there were not six altogether.

Rival Prayers

  Mr. Perkins went on to suggest that they tried first a smaller number of chairs.  They would have to store the chairs, and they did not want 100 lying there doing nothing.

  “The Water Board are praying for rain,” he added, “and here we are praying for fine weather.  I don’t know which prayer will be satisfied, but I would rather give the committee power to keep the number of chairs down at first and increase it if necessary at any time.”

  Dr. Greenfield accepted this and remarked that they could buy 100 chairs and get more quickly in any emergency.

  Mr. Sawford: If you purchase 100 you may not get them at the same rate as 200.

  Mr. Perkins: If there is a terrible difference in the price they might buy the 200.

  The Chairman remarked that the committee recognised the various points.  On his advice the original report was then approved.

Band Arrangements

  Mr. Green reported the acceptance of a scheme, prepared by the bands of the town, for the occupation of the present Hall bandstand for the concerts during the season.  The Stand would be at the liberty of the Council on two Sundays if required.

  Messrs. T. Wall and Son’s tender of £20 (the highest) for the sole right of supplying ice cream in the three parks was accepted.

  Dr. Greenfield said the committee were not at all satisfied with the amount they got from this source and had made the matter “very much open” to tendering.

  Mr. Coles announced the gift of further interesting articles for the Hall museum.

  Rushden Industrial Co-operative Society received permission to assemble a procession and hold children’s sports at Spencer Park on June 29.

  A pitch at Spencer Park was let to St. Mary’s Hockey Club at a charge of £1, and the use of the hut was allowed to the Co-operative Cricket Club for 10s.

More Mixed Bathing

  Rushden Swimming Club applied successfully for the use of the bath as last year and on the first Monday and Tuesday in each month for mixed club nights.  An application for an occasional night in addition was, however, refused.

  Consideration was given to the inequality of the hours allotted for male and female bathing, and the revision of times was left in the hands of Dr. Greenfield, the now chairman of the committee.

  Dr. Greenfield now reported that they had revised the hours to some extent.  They had a complaint that the girls could not use the bath on the same number of mornings as the men, and this had been rectified.  There was also a demand for more mixed bathing, and it was now possible to have mixed bathing almost every day of the week.  On the days when children were there it was nearly always possible to have mixed bathing for the family when the bath was not fully occupied, but if they put it down as mixed bathing they would have to make the full charge to all users.

Housing Activities

  The Housing Manager (Mr. H. C. Allen) reported that the keys of 48 new houses in Highfield-road had been handed to the prospective tenants.

  Tenders for house decoration were issued as follows: 34 houses, Trafford-road (external), Mr. F. H. Sharwood; 65 houses, Irchester-road (internal), Mr. A. T. Nichols; 16 houses, Irchester-road, Messrs. W. Packwood and Sons; 8 houses, Irchester-road, Mr. F. Caswell; 8 houses, Irchester-road, Messrs. Prickett and Dunkley.

  The tender of Messrs. W. Thompson and sons, Ltd., Irthlingborough, at £3,888, was accepted for the erection of 10 parlour type houses on the Irchester-road estate.

  The Housing Committee reported that Messrs. Hacksley Bros., Ltd., who had been called upon to explain the excessive delay in completing their contract for the erection of 18 houses on the Irchester-road estate, were going into liquidation.  The matter had been left in the hands of Mr. Allebone, Mr. Spencer, the Clerk and the Surveyor, to take such action as was thought necessary after the receipt of the liquidator’s report.

Building Plans

  Building plans were as follows:

  Two houses, Griffith-street, Messrs. T. Swindall and Sons; two houses, Prospect-avenue, Messrs. T. Swindall and Sons; house, Bedford-road, Miss B. Deacon; house, Bedford-road, Mr. T. E. Wigginton; two houses, Wellingborough-road, Mr. W. Dickens; two bungalows, Birchall-road, Messrs. T. Swindall and Sons; bungalow, Avenue-road, Court Estate, Mr. F. M. Chappell; alterations and addition, 62, Robinson-road, Mr. A. S. Nutter; extension to factory, Cromwell-road, Messrs. H. W. Chapman, Ltd.; garage, Glassbrook-road, Mr. W. E. Sargent; alterations and additions to workshop, Station-road, Messrs. T. Swindall and Sons.

  The Rushden and District Electric Supply Co., Ltd., applied for consent to the erection of a high tension over-head line north of Kimbolton-road for a distance of approximately one mile.

  Mr. Wilmott said the cable would not be on the road but “over the hedge right into a field.”

Lamps Not Removed

  Mr. Sawford wished to know why the lamps used for the floodlighting of the War Memorial at the Jubilee had not been taken away by the Electric Supply Co.

  Mr. Wilmott replied that the manager of the company had told him that there had been some complaint about the lighting of the Cenotaph, and he wished to raise the lamps to test the effect of the alteration.

  Presenting the Health and Sanitary Committee’s report, Mr. Perkins said the health of the town was satisfactory despite the bad weather.

District M.O.s

  Mr. Spencer was critical of an announcement that the proposal to appoint whole-time Medical Officers of Health for six divisions of the county area (as recommended by a conference of local authorities last February) had been approved by the County Council.  Were they in a position to know when the scheme would come into force and where the Medical Officer would live?

  “Hitherto,” Mr. Spencer declared, “this centralisation has been to the disadvantage of Rushden in nearly everything.  I don’t know whether we have any power in it, or whether the County Council has supreme power.”

  Mr. Perkins said it was not a matter of urgency.  There was a definite policy of the County Council in this direction, and they would co-ordinate the ordinary duties of the Medical Officer of Health with the school medical service.  Ultimately it would make for better service throughout.  Some members of the Rushden Council attended the conference and were in agreement with the plan.  The Medical Officer of Health under the new scheme would be appointed solely for that purpose; he would not be a man in a private practice elsewhere.  When the scheme was complete, he thought, they would have nothing of which to complain.

  Mr. Spencer: I hope it will not be like the roads and footpaths, which have been a disadvantage to the town.

Jubilee Congratulations

  A detailed statement of the cost of the King’s Jubilee celebrations showed that the net expenditure to be defrayed out of the General Rate Fund was £259/12/3.  The statement was approved.

  Mr. Coles said he would like to express the thanks of the Council to the people of the town for the splendid way they rallied round the committee and carried out the Jubilee arrangements.  It was not often that an event could be held in the town without a single complaint or criticism, but in this case he had not heard a single complaint.  He thought everyone should be congratulated on the successful way in which the arrangements were carried out, and that public recognition should be made of the secretaries, who put into the organising work a lot of time which no-one ever saw.  The service went through very nicely indeed, the parade was one of the best Rushden ever had, and everything else went through all right.  So far as the expense was concerned he was happy to say that a penny rate would more than cover it.  They had every reason to be satisfied, and he did not think there had been a penny wasted.

  Mr. Coles added that thanks should be given to the Accountant for the preparation of the printed programmes, on which, as a result of the advertisements, a profit was made.

  The Chairman said he was happy to endorse everything that Mr. Coles had said.  He knew what a lot of work was put into the proceedings, especially by one or two people in the background.

  A vote of thanks was recorded on the minutes.

Scavenging Concession

  A letter was received from the clerk of the county Council stating that in response to the Finance Committee’s application for an increased contribution towards the cost of scavenging the county roads in the district, the County Council had approved an increase from £300 to £600 in the amount of the annual estimate for purposes of the agreement, the County Council’s contribution to be at the same rate as hitherto – one third of the actual approved cost of scavenging, subject to a maximum contribution of £200 per annum.

  It was resolved to approve the terms of the revised agreement.

  Mr. Coles said they were pleased to note the concession.  The arrangement was now on a more equitable footing than before.

  Mr. Spencer, while of the opinion that the whole cost should be borne by the County Council, thanked Mr. Allebone for his work in obtaining the concession.  It was largely through Mr. Allebone’s efforts that they had obtained another £100.

Site For St. Peter’s

  The conveyance of a plot of land to St. Peter’s Church Council was sealed, and in reply to Mr. Allen the Clerk said the price was £39  15s. or 9d. per square yard, and the purchasers would have to pay the cost of the road-making.

  The Chairman: It means that we don’t make any profit.  They simply pay the cost of the land.

  The Accountant reported the receipt of the formal consent of the Minister of Health to the raising of loans of £6,523, £529 and £242 for purposes of the erection of 22 houses and the construction of roads and sewers respectively under the Housing Acts, 1925 and 1930.  The question of negotiating the necessary loans was deferred until the next meeting of the Finance Committee.

  The Clerk (Mr. W. L. Beetenson) was in attendance after a prolonged absence due to illness, and received a cordial welcome from the Chairman.  The members, said Mr. Allebone, were very pleased to see the Clerk back among them.  He had had a serious and tedious illness, but they hoped he was well on the road to recovery and would soon be restored to good health.

  Mr. Beetenson briefly acknowledged the welcome.

  Members in attendance were: Messrs. A. Allebone, J.P., C.C. (Chairman), J. T. Richardson (Vice-Chairman), J. Roe, T. W. Cox, F. Green, D. G. Greenfield, M.D., L. Perkins, M.B.E., W. E. Capon, J. S. Denton, A. Wilmott, J. Spencer, J.P., J. Allen, J. E. Dilks, G. W. Coles, J.P., W. J. Sawford, J. Hornsby and E. A. sugars.  An apology for absence was received from Mr. J. White.