Bright lights, big garage for Tū rangi ambulance
King Country Trust donates $504,000
Tūrangi’s new Hato Hone St John Ambulance building is ready for action. The big new garage is about nine years in the planning and building and was largely made possible with a $504,000 donation by King Country Trust( KCT).
The garage that housed the ambulances until now is not up to the strict earthquake standards required for storing ambulances.
Hato Hone St John Tū wharetoa Area Committee member Will Shirer says the new garage is built to the highest standards, greatly reducing the risk of collapse during a major earthquake and the risk of not being able to respond.
The new building is much larger and can double as a safe space for a triage centre in the event of a major emergency. It will allow them to store the front-running duty ambulance, a first-responder vehicle and other vehicles.
The building was undergoing a few final checks and adjustments last week before it was fully commissioned.
It has been blessed by a kaumā tua and there will be an official opening at a later date. Will says it is the “culmination of a long process” with significant donations made by local community groups and other Hato Hone St John committees, as well as the grant from KCT, which was instead of the usual rebate paid to electricity consumers in the area.
The adjacent ambulance station is manned 24-7 with a double crew and responds to a wide area, from the top of the Desert
Rd, down the length of the Western Bays and about halfway to Taupō and Taumarunui. The workload varies and crews can get as many as a dozen callouts a day or none at all.
Will paid tribute to committee chairman Fraser Lake who has been
instrumental to the success of the project, which included arranging the purchase of the section next door to the station and moving the old house off it.
“It is a brilliant community asset. It’s going to ensure the permanence
of the Hato Hone St John presence here.” He also thanked past and present committee members Sam Bray, Donna Walker, Teresa Chapman, Lauren McCartin, Barbara Ryan, Gill Wotherspoon, Ian Meredith, Amanda Martin and Dave Winterburn.