Letters: St Andrews Presbyterian Church concert, A new opera house?

St Andrews Church, its hall and the historic Matawhero Church will close in the middle of next year due to a dwindling Presbyterian congregation.

At St Andrews Presbyterian Church last Sunday, the Gisborne Concert Band performed a wonderful concert.

The conductor, when introducing the items to be played, involved the audience with his clever, funny repartee. The band played a variety of items very well.

Gisborne is so fortunate to have such talented players who give up their time to rehearse and perform for the Gisborne public. It was such a fun concert enjoyed by many.

St Andrews is an excellent venue for concerts. It is concerning that the Concert Band’s performance may be the last to be held at St Andrews before the church, as announced earlier (Gisborne Herald, Saturday, October 11), closes in June 2026.

I hope a solution can be found. We don’t want to lose the best concert venue in Gisborne.

Barbara N Barwick

Gisborne

A new opera house?

Recent statistics show that New Zealand is now more secular than religious; I suspect this has been the case for those of European origin for some time.

It is a shame that the magnificent buildings erected for religious purposes are now becoming superfluous to present-day society as places of worship, but they must not be discarded when they have both architectural and practical value.

Gisborne was deprived of its Opera House nearly 60 years ago when it was deemed to be structurally unsafe. St Andrews Church, which has hosted many concerts, as well as other community events, for at least the past 18 years (when my wife and I made Gisborne our home), has been structurally modified in accordance with earthquake standards and now needs a new owner.

I think this valuable community facility must be maintained as such, and taken into local public ownership; possibly as a Gisborne Holdings acquisition?

Gisborne District Council, the owner of GHL, is required to focus on “core services”, but how far does this extend beyond supplying potable water, dealing with effluent, collecting garbage and maintaining roads?

Parks and trees and flower beds and play areas and theatres contribute so much to our quality of life; please may we have a new opera house/concert hall too?

Peter Wooding

Gisborne