Community facilities in ‘state of concern’
A council is temporarily saving a beloved theatre after years of postponing its decision.
Actors and musos of provincial Manawatu¯ lost a home when the Little Theatre in Feilding was slapped with a dangerous building notice in March. They previously told Stuff they felt the council had given up on the building.
But at a council meeting on Thursday councillors pledged $275,000 towards temporary repairs for the theatre.
Manawatu¯ District councillors also took turns giving their lack of action a scathing review.
Councillor Shane Casey said a brave decision should have already been made.
‘‘We have dropped the ball, and I’m a part of that, for the last three terms.. . we just can’t keep on doing what we’re doing here.’’
The alternative of saving the building was to demolish it at a cost of $100,000, leaving theatre groups with nowhere else to go.
Cr Grant Hadfield said the danger of losing Feilding and provincial Manawatu¯’s creative community was significant.
Within five years, the council needed to decide whether to do the repairs needed or build a new facility at an estimated $3 million to $5m.
Cr Heather Gee-Taylor asked if there was a way to speed up that decision.
‘‘I’m a little conscious of us kicking the can down the road on projects like this.. . we need to hold ourselves accountable,’’ she said.
Cr Hilary Humphrey, who previously told colleagues she was concerned the council wasn’t fixing or making a decision on community facilities fast enough, appeared pleased but frustrated at the sudden agreement.
‘‘For me, this is the tip of the iceberg. I’ve raised these issues about the absolute lack of funding in the community.
‘‘We pride ourselves in Three Waters infrastructure, but by golly our community facilitates are in a state of real concern.’’
The chorus of guilt was broken when Cr Phil Marsh asked where the money would come from.
Council had reached its debt ceiling, so any unbudgeted expenditure had to come from something else.
In this case, it came from a budget to improve the lighting at Johnston Park, a popular sports ground.
Feilding Yellows chairman Sean O’Connor said he was surprised the council hadn’t given them a heads-up.
‘‘That’d be a real pain. The lights have gotten [sic] worse and worse over the years.. . in daylight savings it’s fine, but in winter nearly every night there are up to three or four teams training.
‘‘It’s definitely a safety concern, especially for high impact training, if you can’t see people or the ball properly.’’
The money would go towards building an external wall and fixing a water issue they don’t know the source of and had created a sinkhole, as well as consenting, consulting and staff costs.
Cr Steve Bielski said his wife was a singer and concurred the building had excellent acoustics.