Martinborough Town Hall Project Still Going Ahead
South Wairarapa District Council has confirmed that the Martinborough Town Hall project is still going ahead.
The total budget required for the project was $6.4M, with the Council being responsible for raising funding for the strengthening of the town hall and part of the new community centre, and the community responsible for the refurbishment of the town hall and the balance of the new community centre. When the final funding was reviewed against this $6.4M project, there was a funding shortfall of $1.3M.
The shortfall left the Council with three options. End the project all together, put in place a targeted rate to make up the shortfall (an additional $70 per annum for each rate payer) or modify the project to meet the funding raised.
South Wairarapa District Council consulted with the community to find out whether there was an appetite for a targeted rate to cover the shortfall.
“When the targeted rate option was put to the community the majority of our rate payers were strongly against this, however a significant percentage of these people still wanted the project to proceed.
Council believes that having an improved town hall, accessible to everyone, is crucial to the growth of our community so we ruled out the option of ending the project all together and ruled out raising the short fall through targeted rates.
This left us with the third option; go ahead with the project but not in the current form.
We’re working with SGL Consulting to make sure we can get as close to the original plan as we can with the funds we have. We will be utilising as much of the previous work as we can, so that money already invested in this project is not lost, this will include the work done on the earthquake strengthening, feasibility work and design drawings. We’ll make sure everyone is kept up to date and we’ll release the modifications of the town hall as soon as we can.
It’s been a difficult consultation at times; there are a lot of people in our community that are heavily invested in this project and have wanted to make sure their perspective was heard which is understandable. It’s been great that everyone has had their chance to express their views, that’s what the consultation process is all about. It’s worked out well, we’ve listened to what our community wants and we’ve been able to find a solution which is a fantastic result for everyone.”
For more information on the Martinborough town hall project contact themayor@swdc.govt or call Adrienne Staples on 06 06 306 9611 or 027 446 8060.
Background:
South Wairarapa District Council’s mission is to work with and for the South Wairarapa communities to affect the best possible social and economic outcomes which are based on valuing and respecting the people, the land and the resources.
The South Wairarapa District Council is one of three local authorities operating in the Wairarapa. South Wairarapa follows the coastline from the western end of Palliser Bay to Honeycomb Rock east of Martinborough. The western boundary follows the main divide of the Rimutaka and Tararua Ranges to Mount Hector, from which the boundary runs south east across the Wairarapa plain to the coast.
