Newspaper Article – Premature for city council to take over Fantasyland

Premature for city council to take over Fantasyland

The man who conceived the idea of Fantasyland on Windsor Park as a major tourist attraction for Hastings believes the city council is premature in assuming full responsibility for its development, control and operation.

Mr Harry Poppelwell, a founder-president of Greater Hastings, who in 1961 visited Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens and returned home with the idea that something similar could be developed in Hastings, is still battling to develop the project.

He says that if Greater Hastings can’t or won’t do more for Fantasyland, then the answer is to form a committee of citizens prepared to work for it, and not to merely allow the council to step in and take over.

“Fantasyland is a community, not a council project.

“It is far too early to hand it over to the council and it was never intended that it should be passed over to the council in an unfinished state,” he said.

Mr Poppelwell said when Fantasyland was launched with a community-supported Queen Carnival to raise the initial finance, it was clearly conceived as a Greater Hastings project, and it was always intended that long-term development would be Greater Hastings’ responsibility.

“Eventually it would be handed over to the council, but as a going concern, not as something tossed in the council’s lap because nobody else in authority appeared to know what to do with it.

“This attitude is quite wrong and most disappointing for people prepared, indeed eager to help Fantasyland along,” he said.

“There are still people interested in Fantasyland and prepared to work for it if they are given encouragement and a fair measure of freedom from council control.”

Mr Poppelwell said it was obvious that a project such as Fantasyland on a public park would ultimately be the council’s responsibility in such things as approval of equipment, its siting and general maintenance.

“But at present the big problem for Fantasyland is acquiring play or entertainment devices. This means someone will have to spend both time and money on the job and the council has enough on its plate without this added worry,” he said.

“I want to see a free-acting committee of people with drive and enthusiasm formed to raise money to obtain sponsors; people willing to work to get Fantasyland under way again.

“This is not a task for a councillor or a council employee,” Mr Poppelwell said.

On the question of money raising, he said it was wrong that a service club, however well introduced, should be given the rights to operate the play equipment and to take money out of Fantasyland when the project was being starved of finance for urgent development. (The Hastings Lions Club runs the train and boats at weekends for an agreed proportion of the profits.)

“I could call a meeting tomorrow and get enough volunteers to do this work so that all the profits went to Fantasyland,” he said.

“I’m not blaming the Lions Club on this. They’re doing a civic duty because no one else appears prepared to do it at this stage.”

Mr Poppelwell denied the accuracy of a report statement by the deputy mayor, Cr J. K. Agnew, that the rounds of “other organisations” had been done to get help for the project, and that the matter now rested with the council.

He said he had personally contacted Cr Agnew and offered his help in organising a committee of citizens to work for the future of Fantasyland.

“But my offer was not acceptable unless I had been prepared to have a councillor as chairman, and I was not prepared to accept such terms,” Mr Poppelwell said.

“I would like to stress this point. I have no axes to grind. I still think Fantasyland is a good idea. Properly developed it could be Hastings’ chance to have a worthwhile tourist attraction and at the same time give Hastings a novel civic amenity which would give pleasure to adults and children for years to come,” he said.

Photo caption – Mr Poppelwell