Martinborough hall revamp still a go

GREEN LIGHT: Council will go ahead with the Town Hall project but not in the current form.

Confirmation that the Martinborough Town Hall project is not dead in the water has come from South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples, who said on Monday the project would still go ahead.

This comes after the South Wairarapa District Council earlier this month rejected a targeted rate which would see ratepayers pick up the $6.4m project's remaining $1.3m balance.

With council turning the targeted rate option on its head, it was left with two options - to either pull the plug on the project entirely or to modify the project to meet the funding already raised.

South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples said the majority of Martinborough ratepayers "were strongly against" the additional $70 annual rate that would make up the project's shortfall.

"However, a significant percentage of these people still wanted the project to proceed."

She said SWDC had decided to go ahead with the project "but not in the current form".

The council would work with SGL Consulting to come up with a plan that was "as close to the original plan" as possible, within the available budget.

"We will be utilising as much of the previous work as we can, so that money already invested in this project is not lost," Mrs Staples said.

This would include work done on earthquake strengthening, feasibility work and design drawings.

"Council believes that having an improved town hall, accessible to everyone, is crucial to the growth of our community," she said.

"We'll make sure everyone is kept up to date and we'll release the modifications of the town hall as soon as we can."

The Martinborough Ratepayers Action Group welcomes the council's commitment to look at alternative plans for the Martinborough Town Hall.

"We also welcome the council's commitment to improved communication on the Town Hall project," said Graham Higginson, chairperson for the group.

He said the SWDC had taken "a very positive step" in abandoning its targeted rate option for the Waihinga Centre proposal.

However, because that process had been confined to the targeted rate proposal, the project itself had not seen a "proper community consultation".

"The council seems to think that over the past month it has been through a consultation process on the future of the Town Hall and that it has broad community support to proceed with a modified version of the old Waihinga Centre plan," Mr Higginson said.

"We believe public consultation and transparent, fact-based decision-making are crucial to the future of Martinborough and the South Wairarapa District."