Foxton's War Memorial Hall may end up in community hands if the council accepts the business case locals are making.
Foxton's War Memorial Hall may end up in community hands if the council accepts the business case locals are making.
The Foxton War Memorial Hall Society has submitted a proposal to council for taking over the running of the hall for the benefit of the community, guaranteeing daily use.
Horowhenua District Council wants to dispose of the building, which is earthquake prone and in recent years had not been usedmuch, costing ratepayers money each year.
The proposal outlines the need for a hall within the township with a capacity for more than 25 people for larger gatherings such as funerals and weddings, as two other venues in the town (RSA and Masonic Village Hall) have either been closed or are earmarked for exclusive use only.
The RSA memorabilia are also in need of a new home.
The society is hoping to take over the hall from July this year and are applying for seed funding for the coming financial year only, of $25,000, which should come out of the council’s hall maintenance budget of $31,000.
The society has secured an anchor tenant for the office within the building, Foxton District Budget Service, which will soon be delivering community services for the Ministry of Social Development, thus expanding its range of services.
The next steps will be to get earthquake vulnerability dealt with and raise enough money to make ends meet without the need for council grants.
The hall was opened in 1954 on land donated by NZ Woolpak Textiles, and financed with funds raised by the community, and a government grant.
An interim committee has been working on saving the hall for future community use since May 2021. The society that was formed has a constitution and membership is open to anyone living or owning a property in Foxton and Foxton Beach.
A management committee will manage the hall, the business case said. The anchor tenant will pay $20,000 a year, and hall hire will be $50 per session and is budgeted for at two half-day sessions over 52 weeks for now.
Qualified experts have donated their services for the earthquake strengthening plans and funding sources have already been identified to pay for this. The society is confident they can make the hall ownership financially viable within a year.
Deputy mayor David Allan: "The business case is lightweight."
“The business case is fairly thin and lightweight,” said deputy mayor David Allan.
He said the commitee, which had dwindled in numbers over time, had only just made it in and had also had an extension granted last year until March 31 this year.
Nola Fox, who spearheaded the business case, said a solid business case needs 50 or 60 pages, but “we were asked to limit ourselves to five or six pages”.
Allan said the plan was sent back to the community board‘s April meeting for advice, but that advice was not possible as most board members were involved in the project to save the Memorial Hall, and had to declare a conflict of interest. There were only two eligible voters on the business case at that meeting as a result and that is not enough.
“The next step is for the committee of three, appointed by the council resolution in May 2021 - being the two Kere Kere Ward councillors and the CEO - to look at the plan and make a recommendation to council,” Allan said.
He couldn’t say when that would be as council is up to its ears in its Long-term Plan, which already has 128 submissions, with submissions closing on May 1.
“Unfortunately given this the Foxton Memorial Hall is not a priority for us at this time.”
