Fix for mill
REGION: Four years after being turned off because of serious damage, Foxton’s landmark Dutch windmill is about to be fixed and could soon be running again.
Four years after being turned off because of serious damage, Foxton’s landmark Dutch windmill is about to be fixed and could soon be running again.
The De Molen windmill broke in February 2014 when pieces of wood on the full-sized 1623 replica’s blades started to come apart at 22 revolutions a minute. It was immediately shut down, but it was clear significant repairs were needed.
The last stages of that work were about to be done, said Foxton Windmill Trust chairwoman Judy Sanson. The mill could be running in time for Foxton’s Big Dutch Day Out on April 28. This year, the fair includes celebrations to mark 15 years since the windmill opened.
‘‘We have missed the milling. It’s definitely been a long time waiting,’’ Sanson said.
Last year, a millwright from Holland visited to advise on the work and help draw up a maintenance programme. By August, local carpenters had made fixes to allow the windmill to ‘‘free wheel’’ – to have the brakes taken off so the blades could turn in gentle winds, but with no connection to the millstones.
The next stage is to ‘‘take the vanes off the mill and replace the wood on the sails. They’ll need a crane and will lift some of the parts down and repair it in a workshop,’’ Sanson said.
‘‘For the taking it down and putting it back you’ve got to make sure you’ve got the weather exactly right.’’
In 2015, then-miller and now mayor Michael Feyen said poo from flocks of pigeons sitting on the windmill during the day was causing maintenance problems.
Sanson said the mill pieces would be cleaned, but the pigeons were still causing a problem, especially for the paint.
Both Horowhenua District Council and the trust were investigating ways to stop them perching and pooing on the mill and the new $8.6 million cultural centre next door. Fundraising had covered the cost of the repairs, expected to be about $40,000.