Neighbouring town resents aid package
Attempts to save the country’s second-oldest rugby club has sparked a war of words between neighbouring country towns over preferential treatment.
The communityowned Greytown Trust Lands Trust has pulled its rental subsidy for the Greytown Rugby Club and bowling club’s land, meaning both may face closure without a bailout.
South Wairarapa District Council has suggested saving the clubs to the tune of $2.7 million or buying the land outright, sparking complaints from a neighbouring town of preferential treatment.
Nifo Tauiliili lives in Featherston, the next town over from Greytown.
She said now was not the time for the council to be spending money on sports facilities in Greytown that would have to be paid for by all South Wairarapa residents. ‘‘We’re heading into a recession and a lot of people here are struggling,’’ Tauiliili said.
‘‘I’ve been here for 50 years and I’ve seen Greytown and Martinborough prosper out of all the three towns. They’re the ones getting all the money and Featherston seems to be getting none of it.’’ Several residents chimed in online, claiming the council should be concentrating on fixing core services and not spending millions on recreation facilities in Greytown.
The Greytown Trust Lands Trust has blamed increasing land values for its decision to withdraw its subsidy to the clubs and its own future being at risk.
‘‘That has meant the rent subsidies from the trust have grown to the point where the situation was getting out of control,’’ it said in a community newsletter this week.
Next year’s rent on the land was projected to be more than $80,000, which would dwarf what the trust gives to the rest of the town’s clubs.
South Wairarapa mayor Alex Beijen said it was disappointing the council had to come up with the urgent proposal to buy the land but it had an obligation to provide
recreational facilities to the public.
‘‘It is disappointing that we are being forced into making decisions in haste now we know the financial impact of the trust’s actions but sometimes that’s life.’’
He said there was a ‘‘looming cloud of undersupply of public land’’.
‘‘Normally, this would go in a long-term plan, rather than reacting to a current situation, but the clubs that currently occupy the land will be forced out of operation without a relatively quick decision.’’
He said if the same situation had occurred in Featherston, the council would do ‘‘exactly the same’’.
Former Wairarapa MP and Greytown resident John Hayes has started a petition asking the trust to gift the land to the council.
He told the trust that Greytown residents were concerned it was threatening to sell the rugby club ground and the bowling sites unless ratepayers provided
$2.7 million through rates – ‘‘although the community has already owned both sites since 1871’’.
The trust said it couldn’t, by law, gift the land away and was required to protect the value of its assets.
Hayes was investigating legal options, which might see the rugby club’s rent responsibilities passed over to the council and the land designated as a reserve.
The council had around 600 submissions on its annual plan, more than triple what it would normally expect. Submissions closed yesterday with hearings planned for June 10-11.
After considering the submissions, the council would probably make a decision in the following month.