Anzac Day cuppa booked out of hall
‘‘We've heard from no one.’’
A town hall supper room playing host to hundreds of library books has thrown a spanner into the works of the rural town’s annual Anzac day service.
Anzac remembrance services are held in the Kaponga’s war memorial hall each year, with a cup of tea in the supper room a key part of the event.
But since August the supper room has been fully engaged as the town’s public library after the original library building was deemed earthquake prone.
A plan to make the move permanent has both surprised and irked residents enough that a delegation from the tiny town turned up at last week’s South Taranaki District Council’s policy development committee meeting asking to be consulted about it.
‘‘We have our Anzac Day coming up and we need the whole hall for that,’’ Kaponga RSA president Alistair Abbott said. ’’Usually we have a cup of tea afterwards in the supper room but now the library is located in there, it makes it awfully difficult for us to do the job properly.’’
Paul Erkes from the Kaponga Lions Club said the community should be consulted about the hall and the library.
‘‘We’ve heard from no one about what’s happening, where it’s happening and why it’s happening.’’
There was a proposal to create a new supper room in the main part of the hall, but that would make it too small for a lot of functions, Erkes said. ’’I know already of one wedding that has been cancelled. I got married in the Kaponga Hall and we used the whole hall, and the supper room for dinner.’’
Keeping the library in the supper room has the support of the Eltham Community Board as long as a new supper room was added to the hall.
District mayor Ross Dunlop said the council was aiming to rationalise its buildings and make better use of them. Only six events were held in the hall during the 2015/2016 year.
‘‘This seems to be a good use for the hall and making sure it’s there forever, rather than just the odd Anzac Day service. My view would be to have more discussion to see if we can find a compromise on what we intend to do.’’
During discussion, several councillors were alarmed at the proposed cost of $60,000 estimate for demolishing the old library building.
A figure of $25,000 was estimated for adding new supper facilities to the hall.
The committee voted unanimously to let the proposal to lie.