Council covers shortfall of memorial cost

A computer-generated image of what the cenotaph and new war memorial will look like at Laurie Hall Park. PHOTO/ WDC

The Whangarei District Council has vowed to cover a shortfall of nearly $140,000 for the creation of the Laurie Hall Park War Memorial if outside funding sources are not successful.

Expected costs - including contingency costs - for the new memorial are now $135,433 over the allocated budget of $500,000.

The physical works contract for the main construction and landscaping has been awarded to Transfield at $263,418.21.

At yesterday's infrastructure committee, councillors agreed unanimously to undertake to provide the additional funding should outside funding not be received.

Councillor Greg Martin, who is part of the project control group along with Cr Sue Glen and members of the RSA, said the shortfall can be attributed to unexpected, hidden costs such as issues surrounding the cenotaph relocation from Rose St to Laurie Hall Park.

"We didn't know how much it would cost to move the cenotaph - we had planned to sort of transport it in bubble wrap," Mr Martin said.

"But all the mortar had disintegrated so it had to be completely dismantled.

"It may well be that we only need a small portion of that [$135,433], depending on the funding the RSA raises," he said.

Whangarei District Council (WDC) group manager infrastructure and services Simon Weston said, "There are irons on the fire for funding".

"When you do something like this, you only do it every hundred years, so you need to do it right."

Mayor Sheryl Mai saw the importance of covering the funding shortfall if necessary.

"To me this is a million-dollar project. We are getting that value, but we are only investing about $600,000 on it.

"It is the honourable thing to do to ensure that this [memorial] is superb. I know this is something we will be proud of and this is an easy one to support whole-heartedly," Ms Mai said.

Whangarei RSA Trust chairman Archie Dixon describes the fact that the council has agreed to potentially cover funding shortfall as an "exciting outcome".

"First of all let me say the veteran community highly values the partnership with the district council and the availability of additional funding to ensure a very satisfactory outcome to remember the more than 600 war-dead from the Whangarei district.

"The veteran community are those who fought alongside those who never made it back, those who travelled half a world away to protect others who were denied their freedom.

"We need to be sure that the wider community does not consider our war dead as somebody else's loved one, but rather this memorial allows us all to claim they belong to all of us," Mr Dixon said.