Residents fight to save halls from demolition
They say these community buildings well used and well loved
Residents of two rural Rotorua communities have begged for their community halls to not be condemned and levelled accusations of substandard repairs and neglect to their council.
They were met with emotional apologies for a lack of council communication — and a promise to do better.
At a Rotorua Lakes Council Rural Community Board meeting on Tuesday, locals from the two communities heard their memorial halls’ fates.
The council is assessing building conditions at all 10 of its community halls. The Mamaku and Reporoa community halls were inspected late last year and both closed in December.
On Tuesday, Mamaku residents learned their hall was to be demolished. Reporoa residents begged theirs would not also be condemned.
Reporoa Memorial Hall custodian Keren Leslie said the hall had been “neglected for a long time”.
In her view, she said issues that were initially small were allowed to grow, and large repairs had been “substandard”. This included a roof replacement she believed was meant to fix dampness but “contributed to the black mould that is currently plaguing the hall”.
Leslie said the hall housed history and memorabilia and served many aspects of the community. She said it was well-used and well-loved.
From funerals and birthdays to pantomimes and prizegivings, the hall hosted all kinds of events.
“I beg for you not to condemn our building.”
The Mamaku hall was used similarly, and Mamaku Residents Association member Rachel Matthews said there was a “complete lack of communication on all levels” around the hall’s closure and any prior issues.
“Committees in the past have done nothing to maintain the hall,” she claimed.
The December building survey of the hall found major visual defects in the subfloor structure and significant impacts on structural integrity.
Council property manager Samantha Rowley’s presentation to the committee noted this was why the hall closed.
“These findings led council staff to decide that the health and safety risk to occupants was too high for the hall to remain open whilst invasive testing was carried out.”
The invasive testing found floor joists “disintegrated with touch . . . barely anything holding it together”.
Water damage and black mould throughout the hall was beyond repair, it said.
The testing concluded asbestos should be removed and the building should be demolished. The council would consider what could be recovered for future use and work to determine “the best course of action”.
Matthews said the association wanted a second opinion. A petition was also presented calling for the hall to be fixed and reopened.
Board member John Atkinson said, “It just seems unbelievable to get to that stage before being picked up on.”
Chairman Colin Guyton said the people of Mamaku would be devastated.
Rural ward councillor Karen Barker, a Reporoa resident, was visibly upset as she spoke.
“I am very sorry about the communication, we can only but improve.”
Barker called the halls “community heirlooms”.
In terms of potential repair or replacement, she said the funding would be challenging.
“We will have to be realistic.” After the meeting, she said she understood there were further reports to come to councillors on the future of either hall as investigations were still under way.
This included what options there might be for a hall in Mamaku. She said she believed the repairs needed in Reporoa were currently being investigated.
Mayor Tania Tapsell, who is not on the board, spoke to the public in the room. She said she could “feel the shock and disappointment”.
“With all challenges that come our way . . . it is still an opportunity for something better.”
Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist for four years.