Floods, quakes may Raffle prize was her ‘toy boy’ see village relocated
The possibility of relocating a town that straddles the South Island’s alpine fault is now on the table.
Franz Josef, a nationally significant tourist destination in South Westland, is located next to the flood-prone Waiho River and the area is subject to significant natural hazard risks like earthquakes.
The draft findings of a study detailing options for the town’s future were discussed at a community meeting on Tuesday.
One option is to relocate the town further north, closer to Lake Mapourika. Another is to build greater protection from the Waiho River, while a third option is to do nothing.
More than 500,000 people visit Franz Josef and the nearby glaciers every year but the town has only 221 ratepayers.
The West Coast Regional Council commissioned Tonkin and Taylor and EY to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the town’s challenges.
‘‘We need to make a collective decision ... as to what is the appetite for living with or defending against this natural disaster risk,’’ council chief executive Mike Meehan said.
He suggested the preferred option could be a combination of all three.
‘‘You can’t [choose] avoid without doing a bit of defending in the interim.
‘‘You can’t shift a town overnight. There’s things that have to happen with all three options that you have to do anyway in the interim,’’ he said.
‘‘It might be something with the river in the interim – there is infrastructure there that has got to be protected.’’
Meehan said further consultation would be conducted over the next two months before a business case was taken to central government.
‘‘We now have a once in a lifetime opportunity to make decisions that would normally be made after an event has occurred.’’
He expected it would take 10 to 12 months before the community had ‘‘something in front of Government and hopefully some kind of decision’’.
Westland District Council mayor Bruce Smith said the council was ‘‘very’’ focused on the issues facing the town, including managing the Waiho River, sorting out stormwater and upgrading the sewage ponds.
‘‘These reports ultimately will focus on the possibility of doing other things like relocating the town.’’
The cost of the various options had not been covered in the report though, making it difficult to decide on a preferred course of action, he said. Building a new village could cost anywhere from $300 million to ‘‘probably’’ $1 billion.
‘‘I don’t mind people writing reports as long as our ratepayers are not paying for them,’’ Smith said.
‘‘Yes we have to plan for tomorrow, but it’s no good planning for things people can’t afford.
‘‘I felt the meeting ended up quite subdued and certainly I made it very clear, as far as I’m concerned, that the Westland District Council is not putting any money into [more reports].’’
Meehan said there had been conversations with central government about further funding for a business case.
The work is part of the wider Tai Poutini West Coast Economic Development Action Plan released earlier this year.
Future-proofing Franz Josef recognises that current infrastructure improvements, such as raising the bridge over the Waiho River and stopbank repairs, are only temporary measures. They weren’t looking for love, they were looking for the best seat in the house.
Bill Heenan, 83, and Valerie Tringham, 86, were at the bowling club for the All Blacks game when they entered the raffle: the prize the two-seater couch in front of the television.
Bill’s name was called first, then Valerie’s.
‘‘Everyone puts $2 in for a raffle, and they draw two names out, and those two people sit on the couch to watch the game ... and you get free drinks for the entire length of the game,’’ Bill said.
Over the 80 minutes, they talked and got to know each other, and Bill decided to ask Valerie if she wanted to go to a navy reunion with him.
‘‘I kept on getting invited to all these cocktail parties and I always went on my own. So I asked Valerie if she’d like to accompany me. I mean, she’s intelligent and very smart. I thought she’d be great company.’’
Ten months on and the Blenheim couple are engaged.
‘‘She calls me her toy boy,’’ Bill laughed.
‘‘Yes, he’s my toy boy,’’ Valerie said. ‘‘And we’re going to travel and we’re gonna do everything. We’ve got limited time in our lives, so does everyone, and we just want to make the best of it.’’
They had talked about moving in together first but Valerie wasn’t having it. Bill had to put a ring on it.
For Bill, being a navy man, that meant the only place fitting for such a special and romantic proposal was at sea.
‘‘I proposed to her on the Picton ferry coming back into the Marlborough Sounds,’’ Bill said. ’’I wanted to get down on bended knee, but there were too many people around.’’
Valerie said they were coming back from Wellington on the ferry after visiting family.
‘‘We were playing cards, I think, just to pass the time. Then Bill said: come for a walk; and he took me out to the back of the ship and he looked at me and he asked me to marry him.
‘‘He said: do you think the view is beautiful?’’ Valerie said, remembering the moment fondly. ‘‘So I said: yes, it’s absolutely gorgeous. And then he said: will you marry me? and I said yes.’’
The pair grew up in different parts of the country and lived very separate lives until recently. Valerie was born and raised in Havelock, outside Blenheim, while Bill grew up in Hokitika, on the West Coast.
He was with the navy from 1949 to 1976 before working as a skipper on an American oil rig for eight years. Then he came back to New Zealand to live in Marlborough.
Coincidentally, Valerie had been married to another member of the armed forces for nearly 60 years, until her air force-career husband died six years ago.
‘‘We lived overseas for a fair bit, my husband and I. We travelled immensely. So I guess Bill and I had that in common – we had both spent a lot of time in other places.’’
Bill divorced nearly 20 years ago, but the pair said neither was looking for love.
‘‘I was just coasting along and I met Bill,’’ Valerie said. ’’They say that you never look for love, it just comes to you, if it’s going to come to you. And, well, I love him dearly.’’
‘‘I never thought it would happen to me,’’ Bill said. ‘‘I just fell head over heels in love with her.’’
They considered buying a place together, but Bill said it was important to him that Valerie stayed in the family home.
‘‘This is Val’s house, and I’m just moving in as such. I said to her: this house is full of memories for you. The family and grandkids have all grown up here. Let’s just stay.’’
‘‘We both like it here,’’ Valerie said. ‘‘We like the neighbourhood; we like the setting. We’re going to be happy.’’
The pair had yet to set a date for the big day, but they were already considering avoiding the kerfuffle by eloping to Rarotonga.