Time restarts in Ngãruawãhia
After several months with a broken town clock, time is set to restart in Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia.
Waikato District Council approved the request for a $12,000 replacement clock at its monthly meeting on March 12.
The current clock was built in
1963 and stopped working about December last year.
Due to the number of complaints received from the community about the clock not working, council staff undertook some investigations.
The clock was inspected and council staff were advised it was not worth fixing.
The estimated cost of removing the existing clock and replacing it with a new clock was
$12,000, Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia ward councillor Eugene Patterson said.
Funding will be taken from the Parks and Reserves replacement fund.
‘‘The $12,000 is just for the replacement of the clock, not the entire structure,’’ Patterson said.
‘‘But, council was also quoted prices between $30,000 and $50,000 for the same thing, so it’s been good to get the price down to this.’’
Water damage was the main reason the clockstopped, Patterson said.
‘‘It’s had a problem in the past with water entry due to not being properly fitted out on the electric side of things.
‘‘We have repaired it a few times over the years, but the water damage has gone beyond repair now.’’
There’s also been a crash at the clock site before where a car hit the base of the structure.
The crash didn’t cause any damage to the clock though, Patterson said.
The crash only affected the block work, he said.
Newcastle Ward councillor Noel Smith was concerned that council was being ripped off over the cost of the clock.
‘‘Where is the $12,000 coming from?’’ Smith said.
‘‘Is it remotely controlled from somewhere, or is it just one of those ones we hang on the wall?
. . . I could do it for $30.’’
Acting general manager of service delivery Jacki Remihana said the $12,000 was for the removal of the current clock and purchase of a replacement clock.
‘‘It’s not one you can buy from the store,’’ Remihana said.
Whangamarino Ward councillor Jan Sedgwick said Te Kauwhata found itself in a similar situation a few years back.
The Lion Foundation replaced the clock for $25,000, Sedgwick said.
‘‘It’s an eye-catcher in the main street … and a great clock,’’ she said.
‘‘We are paying for the replacement [of the Nga¯ ruawa¯ hia clock] because it’s a clock we put up initially, it doesn’t necessarily mean we will pay for clocks in every town.’’
‘‘It’s had a problem in the past with water ...Wehave repaired it a few times over the years, but the water damage has gone beyond repair now.’’
Ward councillor Eugene Patterson