Battle over Petone rest home continues

The battle over the future of Britannia House rages on, as trustees prepare to sell the Petone rest home.

The 17-bed Britannia House closed last month, with trustees saying the community facility was not financially viable and had debts of $200,000.

Staff were subsequently given redundancy payments, pushing the debt to $450,000. The BNZ is now seeking a prompt repayment.

A community group, headed by Karen Waterreus, wrote to the rest home trustees last week, offering to raise $200,000 and reopen the home in March. Its plan involved 10 to 12 residents, and a respite care facility to raise extra money.

Lawyers acting for the group wrote to the trustees asking for a delay in the sale process, until a rescue package could be put together. The group received a response from lawyer Greg Kelly, on behalf of the trustees, rejecting any delay to selling the building.

‘‘The bank has made it very clear again that the debt owed by the trustees must be repaid immediately and, while the bank is prepared to hold back on enforcement action in the short term, it is expecting the trustees to either sell the property and clear the debt or refinance with another bank,’’ he wrote.

The trustees had no option but to sell, and the property would soon be on the market.

Trustees rejected calls from the group that they should resign.

Waterreus was disappointed by their response, saying she still believed the boutique rest home could be saved.

Fundraising could reduce its debt by $200,000 and, with 12 residents, the home would be viable, she added.

Many of the rest home’s staff had not found work so were prepared to return. Some of the Britannia residents who were forced to relocate would also come back.

Waterreus has called a public meeting on Tuesday at Petone Central School hall to discuss how the rest home could be reopened. A mural by New Zealand sculptor Jim Allen has survived as the Wellington building around it was demolished.

The artwork was housed in the foyer of 61 Molesworth St, which was badly damaged in the November earthquakes.

Wellington City Council compliance manager Mike Scott said the artwork was intact, ‘‘albeit a little beaten-up’’.

‘‘A combination of the size of the artwork, the fact it’s made of concrete, its position within the building – and the skills of the demolition workers – have all been contributing factors to this artwork surviving a 5000-tonne demolition.’’

Allen, who is well-known for his work at Karori’s Futuna Chapel, created the mural in the early 1960s when the Molesworth St building was constructed as the New Zealand head office of British firm ICI.

Allen described the 7-metre-long mural as ‘‘a sculptured concrete panel inspired by the microstructure of naturally occurring copper crystals – building blocks of the chemical industry’’.

Scott said the council would now work with building owner PrimeProperty ‘‘to support the future’’ of Allen’s artwork.