Squeeze on Carterton events centre

Less than two months after the grand opening of Carterton's $6 million Events Centre, staff have run out of room.

At Wednesday's Carterton District Council meeting, community development manager Lorraine Gittings said space was already at a premium within the building, and there were issues finding desk space for staff members.

She said the latest challenge was finding storage space for a number of items destined for the auditorium.

"I don't know where we're going to put it all, but I'm sure we'll find room."

She said the meeting room was also attracting a huge number of bookings, with community groups and corporates keen to utilise the area.

However, rather than seeing the issue as a criticism of the new building, Mayor Ron Mark was quick to put a positive spin on things.

"It's all a measure of success of the planning and building of the Events Centre," he said.

The discussion which followed among councillors was of a mixed nature.

Councillor Bill Knowles berated the architect for "stuffing up the Events Centre", while councillor Barbara Durbin saw the issue as simply a case of the building doing "too well".

The council then took a step to easing the congestion, voting unanimously to accept a donation of the adjacent wooden building, formerly the Carterton St John ambulance base.

However, even that building came with a burden of sorts, said Mr Mark, with the mayor describing a number of structural faults within the building.

"It's a present with a double-edged blade on it."

He said he would be asking St John for a contribution to the building to allow it to be restored.