Raglan’s new wave

Once Raglan was a backwater for retirees. Now baches there can cost a cool half million. FIONA BARBER discovers why the rich are going west.

Who can say what sweet mix of circumstance and event has transformed the sleepy backwater Raglan once was into an embryonic haven for the wealthy and famous?

For decades the town's most famous resident was musician Midge Marsden and before that it was land campaigner Eva Rickard. Influential people.

But now it's where All Black forward and all round nice guy Josh Kronfeld has had a bach built. Yes, the Dunedin-based Kronfeld has built a home overlooking Whale Bay.

The keen surfer's designer home has panoramic views over the Tasman Sea. The whisper is that it's worth between $400,000 to $500,000. It's a bach, but not as most of us know it- think architectural statement rather than fibrolite and batten.

Once the infamous black sand beaches coupled with a dubious reputation as a refuge for hippies, beneficiaries and solo mothers - kept the wellheeled away from Raglan.

People from Waikato knew what they had in the west coast jewel with its harbour, beaches, brooding mountain and its community heart.

And surfers from all over the world knew about the waves to be had at Manu Bay and Whale Bay at the foot of 755m Mt Karioi.

Raglan stayed a backwater for locals and retirees, unfettered by development and the inevitable trappings of a resort town.

But nothing stays still. The town is studded with cafes, the whoosh of espresso machines and the wafting odours of that Italian excuse for a toasted sandwich, the panini.

The resident population of Raglan has more than doubled to 3070 over the past 10 years and in summer holidays the tally can swell to 15,000 placing strain on water and sewerage services.

The Harbour View Hotel and dairies remain open but along with the cafes the kind of shops the well-heeled like to browse in have sprung up.

And the days of buying that $50,000 bach with peeps of the harbour are well gone. Even sections - what few there are left - command prices of $100,000 or more if they have sea views.

Buyers are waiting for affordable properties overlooking the rugged Whale and Manu Bays to come up for sale, according to local real estate salesperson Karen McKell.

"Four years ago there was a big surge," she says.

About that time McKell bought a bach with a Government valuation of $75,000. The GV on the property is now $133,000.

McKell says the real estate boom seems to be levelling out but the town still has about 15 salespeople working out of several agencies.

Well before the words "investment property" were ever uttered in Raglan, the town had pegged an important and controversial place in New Zealand's land history.

It was the home of the late Eva Rickard, the public face of the successful battle for the return of Maori land to the people of Whaiangaroa.

The land had been compulsorily taken by the Government during the Second World War to be used by the Air Force. It was not needed but instead of returning it to the Maori owners, it ended up becoming the Raglan golf course.

Rickard's giant-slaying victory against the Government more than two decades ago put Raglan on the map.

One of Rickard's children, Pablo, returned to Raglan in 1987 after 20 years in Christchurch.

He has lived through the growth spurt which is threatening to clog the arteries of the town.

"The place is too small for what is really happening," says Rickard who has driven up and down the road several times before finding a parking spot.

"It's growing really fast: the car park's too small, the school is too small, the sewerage is too small and the bridge is still one-way."

The father of five has carved out a working life for himself in the town but judging by his list of occupations, he has had to be versatile.

Rickard owned the fruit and vege shop for nine years and now divides his time between an array of jobs including loading top-dressing planes (he is also a pilot), assistant auctioneer and being on the management board of the camping ground where he and his family patrol over the holiday rush.

He is also, somewhat ironically, the vice-president of the local golf club.

Rickard worries that locals are bearing the brunt of the influx of buyers who spend just weekends and holidays in Raglan.

"The people in the community have to keep going, keep this place running for them," he says without a trace of animosity.

"People buy $300,000 houses but the people living here earn $12,000 to 15,000 and they're getting squeezed out."

Longterm residents voice a recurring theme: while house values may have soared, this is no comfort for the likes of pensioners whose rates bills have ballooned accordingly.

And are town improvements such as the Wainui reserve, which hugs the hills overlooking the ocean, geared more towards the tourists than the locals?

But despite the looming physical problems facing the town, Rickard says he will probably stay there until he dies.

Annie Calder, who now runs the fruit and vege shop with her partner Reg Lelievre, wonders what will happen when a twisting piece of State Highway 23 - known as the Deviation - is ironed out.

Transit New Zealand has plans to smooth the short but treacherous patch on the road that links Hamilton with Raglan.

The inevitable result is that even more people will make the journey west.

"I worry about the Devvy being opened up," she says.

"Personally I think it's the beginning of the end."

One of the more public faces of Raglan is musician Midge Marsden, a resident for about 19 years, who is building on to the cottage he bought for $13,000 in the seventies.

The deck has been extended thanks to second-hand wood donated by some Ponsonby friends who on this sunny January afternoon are enjoying the harbour views from atop it.

"The surfing was a big catalyst," says Marsden of the boom in Raglan's popularity.

"When I first came here there were hippies and unemployed but families started arriving and making this their home."

But perhaps Marsden's houseguests best explain some of the appeal for Aucklanders.

"The biggest change is that you can get a really good cup of coffee and a really good meal," says Sarah Palmer, formerly of Waikato, now of Ponsonby.

"When I first came here, you got fish and chips."

Marsden also points to food as a factor in the rise of Raglan and mentions a man called Colin Chung.

Chung came from Hawaii with a degree in hotel and restaurant management and eventually settled in Raglan where he opened a cafe called Vinnie's.

That was 10 years ago and although successful, he laments the loss of the little town where he decided to put down roots.

"One of the reasons I came here was it was quiet and pretty laid back and it's completely changed."

Chung now faces stiff competition from other cafes and restaurants and is working harder than ever.

He wonders what part Vinnie's may have played in the boom.

"People have said 'if you didn't open your restaurant, it wouldn't have started this thing'. I'm not sure that's true. People would have eventually found Raglan."

What remains for Raglan, apart from the locals coming to grips with their town's popularity, are the nuts and bolts issues of ensuring the boom does not physically bust the town.

That task falls to the Waikato District Council which has been canvassing locals about their wants and needs.

Raglan area office manager Steve Soanes cannot predict how much more the town will grow.

"That will be determined by the extent to which developers really pick up on Raglan and run with it."

Despite the creeping change, the locals seem content to stay in their town.

After all the waves still break just so and when the sun drops after another perfect day it's hard to think of anywhere better to be.

As 21-year- old Jonathan Rickard, Pablo's son, who plans to spend his future in Raglan says," To me it's a safe place, I personally feel at ease when I'm here."