Huntly Railway Station arsonist pleads guilty
A man has admitted destroying half of a historic railway building in a fire he deliberately lit last year.
Daniel Vale, 45, pleaded guilty to a single charge of arson when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday afternoon.
The Raahui Pookeka Huntly Railway Station building was being restored to house the Waikato Coalfields Museum when part of it was set alight by Vale about 11pm on May 31 last year.
Built in 1939, the building was in two pieces with the first half moved from Lake Puketirini, where it had been since 2008, to a Waikato District Council-owned property on Glasgow St.
A truck carrying the second half of the building happened to be en route to the site when the fire lit by Vale took hold.
As the agreed summary of facts on the case notes, Vale was recorded travelling north through Huntly on various CCTV cameras between 9.30pm and 10.30pm that night. He then made his way to the building through temporary fencing erected around it, before setting fire to it and leaving.
While the building was not completely destroyed, the damage was estimated to be in the range of $650,000.
When spoken to by police at the time of his arrest, Vale denied any involvement. That denial ended on Friday. Vale, who was represented in court by lawyer Gerard Walsh, was granted ongoing electronically-monitored bail by Judge Stephen Clarke until his sentencing date on July 23. Meanwhile, the original project of turning the station into a museum is back on track, and should be complete by mid 2024, the council said. The damaged section of building has recently been moved to its permanent location and was now partially repaired, a council spokesperson said.
Construction company Thorburns have been a huge help. “They have a long history with the community and the building, having been involved in the relocation of the building from its original railway station location and refurbishment,” the spokesperson said.
“They have the Huntly community in mind, worked collaboratively throughout the long insurance process since the arson event, and that’s been critical in getting the project moving forward again.”
“The museum has applied for external funding to complete phase two of the fitout (as the tenant) and is awaiting the outcome of said funding application.”
To fund the station’s rebuild, the council needed to cough up $220,000, a fair bit more than planned.
“The extra funds are required to cover cost escalations, delays while we’ve sought extra consents from KiwiRail, and some uninsured aspects related to the fire such as holding costs for the builders,” deputy general manager service delivery at Waikato District Council Anthony Averill said.