In South Wairarapa, $3.2 million is not an "only" situation.
In South Wairarapa, $3.2 million is not an "only" situation.
LARGE quantities of money can bring out the extremes in otherwise amiable relationships, and that would appear to be the case with the debate over whether Martinborough should get a big cash injection to create its $6.2 million town hall and community centre.
That cash injection, from South Wairarapa DistrictCouncil, is more than $3 million.
Since I am a Featherston resident, I'm going to have to be really careful with this. Already the Featherston Facebook page has called for some calm, saying this not about one town against another. Our own Facebook page has been lively with comments. Some criticise the idea of their rates going towards one town. Others think objectors to the project are "haters". Others have praised the Martinborough Community Centre Project team for their positive action, and suggest other towns should find their own projects and do the same.
We've got a letter from the project team, yet to be published, which points out the hard work they have put into the project, and the pledges of money already obtained from locals. They also point to the necessity of doing something now, with a building in dire need of earthquake strengthening.
It is impressive there is a committed team in Martinborough, passionate about a project, and damn right they should go for it. But I don't think you can use the word "only" in their letter when talking about council's proposed construction input. In South Wairarapa, $3.2 million is not an "only" situation. It's basically requiring the council to cash up some land assets - which, granted, might not be doing much - and putting their chips on the table.
And saying it's not about one town against another? Well, yeah, it kind of is. Both Martinborough and Featherston are high on the Herald's recently published deprivation index. Martinborough might have some wine and olive oil glamour, but for all that it's not a rich town and needs help. A community centre with an iSite would be ideal. Featherston has discovered a new energy in retail, with the new supermarket the likely catalyst, and perhaps if there was a set of scales stretching between the towns, it could be argued the supermarket is tipping the scales Featherston's way.
