A long-time love of the Kerikeri community has prompted a retired Northland couple to donate $650,000 to build a new library there.
Retired Kerikeri orchardists and agricultural contracting partners Ken and wife Jeffray Procter will tomorrow officially donate the money to the Far North District Council to build a new library
for the Kerikeri area.
"We love the community here and people have been very good to us. You only get back what you put in. This (the donation) is a way of reaching out to the people, and a way to give back what has been a wonderful experience for us here in Kerikeri," the couple said.
Far North Mayor Yvonne Sharp said the couple's completely unexpected and "extraordinary" generosity would cover the total construction cost of the new library building, which would be named after its benefactors.
Councillor Dugald Macdonald, chairman of the environmental and community service committee, said it was not the first time the couple had come to the aid of the community.
They had earlier donated about 5ha of land adjoining Rainbow Falls to preserve the scenic area in perpetuity.
They also spent $10,000 sealing the road and providing public access through their property to the Rainbow Falls reserve area they created.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
