Demolition shock for heritage building

The demolition of the old totalisator building at Opaki Racecourse is the latest in a long line of buildings to fall to the wrecker's ball, despite being on a list of heritage buildings drawn up by Masterton District Council.
Built in the mid-1880s the totalisator is one of very few of its type left in the country and since demolition began has been the subject of email correspondence between the council and New Zealand Historic Places Trust central region area co-ordinator David Watt.
Race meetings have not been held at Opaki for many years, with the track now being used as a training track only, and demolition of the long disused totalisator is supposedly to recycle native timber used in its construction.
Planning officer Tyler Ross has told the historic places trust he visited the racecourse on Wednesday.
Although he had not seen anyone demolishing the building he had seen a digger parked inside it and "a lot of debris round the base of the building".
"I am taking advice on the procedure council will take in regard to abating the demolition, and possible prosecution."
Mr Watt had told the council planner any structure built before 1900 is an archaeological site.
"Therefore the provisions of the Historic Places Act come into effect and the trust must be consulted.
"I have alerted our regional archaeologist."
Only this week news filtered out that the Wairarapa branch of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust has gone into recess.
It had been fighting on several fronts in the past few years to save Masterton's heritage buildings from either demolition or removal.
Among those on the council's heritage list that have been lost to Masterton are the Tinui Hotel on Castlepoint Road, lost to Greytown after a titanic Environment Court struggle.
Also lost to South Wairarapa, this time to Featherston, was the Dixon Farmhouse, one of the first houses to be built in Masterton, on Charles Dixon's Worksop farm.
The Whare Wall on private property in Michael Street, made of totara slabs and described in the list precise as being of "technical and rarity value" was wrecked as was the Queen Street building formerly the South End Mart, that had been a stables and wheelwright business in the 1870s.
In a written explanation to the newspaper yesterday afternoon, Mr Ross said after his visit to the site he had contacted Spencer Southey, a Masterton Racing Club representative, and had told him of the "protected status" of the building under the Operative and Proposed Masterton District Plans, and that any further demolition of the building should immediately cease.
The protected status of the building had later been "reinforced" at a meeting with Mr Southey who had undertaken to liaise with the historic places trust and council to acquire the "necessary approvals to demolish the remainder of the building".
Mr Ross said it was made quite clear to the racing club any application for resource consent would have to be processed as a discretionary activity.
This meant the council may approve, or decline, the application and the historic places trust would be considered "an affected party".
"Masterton District Council also has the ability to prosecute people, or organisations, breaching the rules of the district plan.
"This option will be investigated for the demolition work already undertaken should no resolution to the damage be reached by the club, or further demolition of the building be permitted."