Avoiding a new town hall

ŌTOROHANGA has been presented with a strategy to avoid the expense of building a new town hall from scratch, and the district council is expected to confirm a draft feasibility study as meetings resume this month.

Now called the Ōtorohanga Multipurpose Community Hub, the process went public last October with co-design workshops involving community members sharing views and aspirations on the functions of such a hub.

Who would it serve, what it needed to include and how it should work with other services, emerged from the workshops.

Requirements included flexible multi-purpose meeting spaces, a town hall kind of space, doing spaces and teaching spaces for creative activities, spaces that supported tamariki, rangatahi and for the older members of the community.

The firm favourite was Option B - to develop a network of hubs and build on the existing library and support house facilities to improve and extend what they offered to the community, and work with the Ōtorohanga Club to investigate how to make its existing function area work better for civic and community functions.

The other options were to do nothing, or to build a new facility from scratch. Option B was also a firm favourite among councillors, Mayor Max Baxter said.

“It’s imperative that we look at the best way to serve our community in the most affordable manner,” he said.

“The last thing we want in town is white elephants as a consequence of building new infrastructure, where we have got absolutely adequate facilities to fit the community’s needs.

“Of course, we would all like big bright and new, but we have to be realistic.”

The consensus among elected members supported making use of existing facilities, he said.

“So what staff are putting before us as next steps, I’m not sure.

“What goes out for consultation, I’m not sure. But amongst ourselves, we are very happy with that suggestion.”

The discussions are the result of a council decision last October to begin planning for a new town hall to replace the one demolished in 1990.

A feasibility study to define the use, purpose and location of a proposed “multi-purpose community facility” was announced after community desire for a new town hall was expressed in the 2021/31 long term plan process.

While the ongoing town concept plan process focused on a culture and arts centre, the subsequent study undertaken by Veros took a broader view, council chief adviser Ross said.

The timing aligned with the development of the draft 2024-34 long-term plan, giving council the opportunity to hear from partners, stakeholders and the community and reflect the agreed outcomes in the adopted long-term plan.

More details of the workshops processes from October and December are on the council website, with a link from its Facebook page.