Bunnythorpe village still waiting for a new hall

The Bunnythorpe Public Hall Society has money in the bank to build a new community centre, but is still waiting for the go-ahead from the city council.

Society spokeswoman Anne Russell said the community continued to be ‘‘disappointed and frustrated’’ by delays caused at least in part by the Palmerston North City Council.

She was speaking on the first day of annual budget submission hearings in the city.

She and colleague Flo Gibson told city councillors the society had nearly $130,000 invested and $200,000 promised from the Manawatu District Council for the project.

The old hall had been demolished in 2008, and since then, there had been no community meeting place in the village. The women said the 2012 boundary change, that had moved Bunnythorpe from Manawatu to Palmerston North, had contributed to delays.

‘‘We had to take a few steps back while the city council got to grips with the village.’’

But the council’s veto of the society’s plan to buy the former Methodist Hall complex last year and decision to run two feasibility studies it saw as replicating work it had already done was compounding frustration.

‘‘We have been made to feel unimportant in our dealings with the council,’’ said Russell.

The women said a new community centre would be well-used by a variety of groups.

This year’s Anzac Day commemorations, attended by hundreds of people, had used the local tavern as a meeting place afterward. ‘‘But this refreshment venue is not acceptable to many residents.’’

Mayor Grant Smith said the results of the latest feasibility study would be available soon, and he rejected the idea the council was stalling.