Brassed off by band’s base
Plans for a new rehearsal facility by an award-winning brass band have struck a sour chord with neighbours who are worried the sounds of trumpets and tubas will shatter their peace and send property prices plummeting.
The Woolston Brass Band has been in existence for 127 years, has won numerous national titles and last weekend walked away with a second overall placing at the New Zealand Brass Band championships.
But its application for a new home in Woolston has been met with a deafening chorus of protest from a handful of residents who are worried about noise, increased traffic and the impact on property values.
Others fear the new location – a 618 square metre practice facility in front of the Woolston Club on Hargood St – would destroy a memorial garden on the site.
The band’s existing hall, 1.5km away on residential Dampier St, has been used since 1965 and is now too small, damaged from the earthquakes and needs to be demolished, band committee member Steve Leader said.
The band wants to remain in Woolston and, after a four-year search for a new base, it approached the Woolston Club, which agreed to subdivide land and sell it if the necessary consents were granted.
The band has applied for resource consent but four neighbours have opposed the development. A hearing, in front of commissioner Ken Lawn, will be held today. In his submission, resident Tim Meakin said he was confident the building would affect house sales because no-one would want to live across the road from a brass band.
‘‘An inclusion of an industrial building will force me to consider selling a house which my family have owned for 13 years,’’ he said.
Daryl Bergamini said Hargood St was already a busy road and it sometimes took him up to five minutes to get out of his driveway. ‘‘Further building and car parking in this area would only exasperate [sic] this problem.’’
He and other neighbours said they already have problems with noise from the Woolston Club which would only increase if the proposal went ahead. ‘‘None of our neighbourhood group are at all convinced that this building will be totally soundproof.’’
Sherral Millard, whose mother has lived next to the club for 59 years, said her mum donated two trees to the club in her husband’s memory.
One tree died and the other, an American sweet gum, remained on the site. The family asked for a plaque to be placed under the tree, but it never happened, Millard said.
Caroline Kellaway Pengelly, who was president of the Woolston Club for 25 years until 2017, said there had never been any consideration given to designating part of the club’s grounds for a memorial garden.
But Millard said to say the garden was never intended as a memorial garden was a ‘‘gross misrepresentation’’ and had upset her mother greatly.
Residents are also worried the band could rent out the building for social events, but Leader said there was no such intention.
He said the building would be aesthetically beautiful and have soundproofed walls. ‘‘We are not out there to upset the neighbours. I would like to think if it goes ahead, they will become part of it and come in and have a coffee with us.’’
Leader would not say how much the building would cost, but said it was in excess of $1 million and would be funded from an insurance payout and fundraising.