The following report, by Salient Sports Editor, Peter Winter, covers firstly the present sports facilities offered at Victoria, with a brief delineation of their inadequacies. It then goes on to describe the present plans for sports facilities development, and concludes with some hopes of what will eventually emerge.

It must be pointed out that the shape of the long range plan presented is what Graeme Collins has rather pessimistically termed a "tentative concept" of what finally is hoped will eventuate!?

Acknowledgements are due to:

Alan Laidler - Head of the Physical Welfare Service.

Dr. Culliford - Assistant Principal, Victoria University.

Ian StockweI - Sports Officer, 1970....for the reports and additional information supplied by them.

It is commonly believed among the powers - that - be in our university system that we at Vic have better sports facilities than any other university in the country. And yet a good look at what this university actually has to offer those interested in sport is quite disillusioning:

(a) The gymnasium is one of this university's greatest assets, with the large floor space of its main hall, the Judo and Weight training Rooms, the Dance Room, and so on. However, present facilities in the gym are now highly inadequate to meet the demands of clubs and societies, casual students coming for recreation, and the group activities organised by the Physical Welfare staff.

The Main Hall is becoming more and more cramped not only as the student roll increases, but also with space consuming activities (such as table tennis, skiing on the artificial ski slope, and growing Karate Club activity) all going on continuously. This situation becomes even more alarming when one realizes that by 1984 double the present area of 12,000 square feet occupied by the Union Gym will be required to meet the needs of a student roll approach in 10,000 students. Already for example the weight training room is dangerously overcrowded when four or more people train at one time (which is not uncommon), and the demands laid on the trampoline, changing rooms and lockers are now such that many students are not being able to use these, their own facilities:

(b) The Tennis courts are well used throughout the year for club and recreational tennis, coaching clinics and during the winter, Netball. An increasing number of University groups are making use of the social room in the tennis pavilion. The inconvenience and expense of being forced to use Reid's Squash Centre because we have no courts of our own were outlined in a recent issue of Salient (Issue pulxl 7-7-71).

(c) One undersized Rugby field, the Boyd-Wilson Field, is the sole University playing field at present. This is the most lamentable facet of Victoria's sporting system, and surely constitutes the most pressing need for planning and development? Ian Stockwell states in his report last year that with the Boyd-Wilson Field "the Curator and his staff face an impossible task in attempting to answer to training needs of vast numbers, extremely diverse sports and overlapping seasons." This sums up well the complete inadequacy of the Body-Wilson Field.

(i) Short Term Planning;

What is being done at the moment to alleviate the problems created by lack of facilities, lack of space and lack of equipment? Feasibility studies and various reports have been drawn up and discussed. From these it seems that short term planning places direct priority, naturally, enough, on relieving the pressure on existing facilities. But coupled with this concern is the realisation that any progress made towards providing more gym space, more playing fields and so on will certainly ease the pressure, but only to a limited degree. For the growing student roll al Victoria necessitates a completely new and revitalized approach to the problem: it is not only a lack of space which is the problem, (though this is at the root of it). As we have seen by an examination of what we have a1 present, it is an amalgam of factors such is Lick of facilities and lack of equipment, as well as the overall lack of space that together constitutes the problem of inadequacy of our sporting system.

There is also a conflict of interest here Those who responsible for the administration of the gym feel that in any proposed short term planning there must be emphasis on Gymnasium development. Their argument is strong: playing fields cater in the main for evening and weekend activities, the gym is used to saturation by students who take exercise as part of the ordinary University day. But the counter argument put forward by such people as the administrators of the Rugby Club is Just as strong people who prefer team sports, and wish donate their time and energy to them, and thus to then university, should not be hampered by lack of space and poor facilities.

Both sides must be provided for; the one cannot be allowed to overrule the other.

Pole Hill Gully - 2 Rugby Fields 2 Hockey Fields and a Gym

Firstly then, let us consider the short-term development of the gym. It appears little can be done to ease the situation unless there is an increase in floor space in the near future; "re-organisation of the existing facilities can no longer solve the problems." Consequently an immediate start on expansion must be made to the existing Union Gymnasium.

(a) There is a consensus of opinion in all reports that the first stages should take the form of a multi-purpose area, with a floor sue in the region of 50' × 60'. This hall would be used for such activities as gymnastics, judo, fencing, karate, tabletennis, trampolining and dance. The ceiling height would be an important consideration, as trampoline activity necessitates a stud height of up to 20' yet a relatively intimate atmosphere is required for dance. It can be seen that these dimensions are based on the liklihood of two or more activities going on at the same time. Factors such as acoustics, lighting, heating, access to the associated music rooms and equipment storage room, and reasonably easy access to the changing rooms are all important in the planning of any such extension.

In what direction the gym should be extended will be discussed below, at the end of this section and also under the long-term planning section of this report.

(b) As part of the same first stage should be established a permanently laid artificial ski slope of about 4,500 square feet. This is structurally possible, but as it is stated in the report on union facilities to the Management Committee, the shape of the slope would depend on the size of the gymnasium extensions and the gradients that are possible. 'Ideally there should be two gradients in the region of 20 degrees and 5 degrees. The lengths and shapes of the slopes will depend on how the architect can relate the ski area to the terrain AND the size of the building as whole," (see plan diagram) [1]

(c) A snack bar seating up to 50 people would be desirable to be incorporated into the general extension plan. If this is not possible, then the existing Dance Room could be converted into such a snack bar, Ideally, this area should have an extension onto a belcony overlooking the multi-purpose hall, the Ski-slope, the Mam Hall or the Harbour. It must, of course, be accompanied by a small kitchen.

(d) The men's toilets and changing rooms are at present used to their utmost capacity, and will be nowhere near large enough to cope with the increased usage resulting from the enlarged facilities. Either an extension of the existing areas or the provision of new areas would be acceptable. It is estimated that the area required would be somewhere in the vicinity of 700 square feet. The existing women's changing room and toilet should be adequate to cope with the increased usage. In addition to the lockers in the changing room further provision would be required for at least 300 more lockers, of varying sizes.

(e) The present gym officers are working under very cramped and quite uncomfortable conditions. With the growth of student numbers and the increased range of facilities it will be necessary to provide offices for two further members of the Physical Welfare staff. A head storekeeper will also have to have his own office in the building. Moreover, a clinic room of about 200 square fee adjacent to the staff area is proposed, to be used for examination, treatment or remedial work with individual students or small groups of students, as a first aid room, and on occasions as an office.

(vi) Rifle Range, Golf, Archery, and Cricket practice are desirable, but of lower priority than the facilities described above. If necessary all these activities could be incorporated into one main area. If this concept is not feasible in short-term planning, then it may be possible to include up to three squash courts. Consideration should be given to housing these facilities in conjunction with the ski slope if this proved feasible, or in the basement of the building if this is not possible.

That then, is an adequate converage of the proposed short-term gym upgrading. It is to be hoped that the proposing stops and the acting begins by the end of this year at the latest.

Secondly under short-term planning must be considered the absence at this university, of playing fields and page break the facilities that generally accompany them. As mentioned earlier, the Boyd-Wilson field is the only University playing field. This lack of outdoor facilities is serious, and to the detriment of such university sports as rugby, athletics, soccer, hockey and cricket. Three showers in the confined changing sheds of the Boyd—Wilson field serve any and all the teams which may be using the field at any one time! Again, almost every rugby club in Wellington has a large area devoted to changing and showering facilities adjacent to their own playing fields; Victoria is so poorly equipped in this respect that visiting teams playing our teams must play on Kelburn Park where there are no showering facilities at all. The ideal solution seems to be the early establishment of new playing fields, in order to remove the heavy wear and tear of match play and excessive team-practice usage from the Boyd—Wilson area. It could then be gradually converted into an all-weather multi-purpose facility. There are however, a number of objections to this scheme:

(i)	The future value of the area for building purposes.
(ii)	The cost involved for both converting the Boyd-Wilson field, and for developing new and better fields.

The objections to the conversion of Boyd Wilson do not appear insurmountable. The resilience of all-weather surfaces offsets the resulting high cost of maintenance, for it would assuredly meet the great demand of a variety of sports clubs. Besides, it is highly desirable to keep an outdoor training area close to the centre of campus so that students may use it during a normal university day, all the year round. The serious difficulty with the present field is that some months are wasted between the winter and summer seasons as resowing etc. is necessary after extensive winter usage.

The fitness training skills of rugb, soccer, hockey, athletics and other sports would be better catered for by the new surface, and given this and other advantages most of the sports clubs would readily accept that there were many compensations even if they did have other playing fields developed by the university some distance away from the campus.

Boyd Wilson Mud.

The conversion of Boyd—Wilson would mean a greater provision for sports at Victoria, and that all sport could become concentrated on the campus. There is enough room for this concentration provided development of more playing fields accompanies the conversion of Boyd-Wilson "If in fact part of the Boyd-Wilson area must be sacrificed to future building schemes, it is to be hoped that at least some of it will be retained as a training facility or, preferably, that losses to such schemes will be balanced by extension of the present playing area on to adjacent land unsuitable for buildings."

Just what land is available for the development of playing fields? The university owns a total of 115 acres in the Polhill Gully area, at the top of Hollaway Road, (which runs off Aro Street). This land is comprised of near vertical slopes which would make any development difficult and expensive. At present it is proposed that many parts will eventually be levelled to provide 70 acres of flat land. At this stage it is envisaged that a series of platforms will be made, one tier providing for two Rugby fields, another for two soccer fields, and a third will contain two hockey fields. Another containing suitable facilities for athletes will also be sited here. Associated with these will be a gymnasia complex, complete with changing rooms etc. There will also be a new parking area made available here, for approximately 1,000 cars. This area is only about fifteen minutes walk from the University and it is planned to have a shuttle bus service operating to and from the campus.

All this however, has been included in the long-range proposals of the relevant reports. Yet such a complex is vital to the healthy growth of Victoria, and planning must be brought forward so that building can begin as quickly as possible. (For this reason I have included it in the section devoted to "short-term planning"). Here is an ideal situation for the application of imagination and energy by the administrators of this university, and they should show no, delay in pressing ahead with such urgent requirements.

In fact, all that short range planning has recommended is desperately needed and must be completed before any long-term scheme can be enacted.