A 2015 Anzac Day parade in front of the Rob Roy Hotel in Waihi prior to its new coat of paint. Photo / Supplied.
A 2015 Anzac Day parade in front of the Rob Roy Hotel in Waihi prior to its new coat of paint. Photo / Supplied.
Waihi RSA says cancelling civic parades on Anzac Day was a decision made in haste by the Hauraki District Council.
Only council civic services and parades are cancelled. Other services are listed on the council website for people to attend.
Mayor Toby Adams said the call to cancel was made because Government-imposed guidelines for gatherings were too tight.
"Now, even with the easing of restrictions, we're conscious of the importance of keeping the vulnerable in our community safe, given the current spread of Covid in the Waikato."
He said the lead-in for traffic management and event organisation was part of the decision.
Waihi RSA president Elle Henderson said veterans, RSA members and supporters had endured two years of lockdowns and she believed people could have made up their own minds about attending.
"Hauraki District Council rang me on February 25 then they had a meeting on the same day and rang back to say it would definitely be cancelled. It surprised me because I had given my opinion not to be rash and make the decision so early.
"People should be looking after people but also their own selves. If people aren't happy to go out, they don't go out and that's what's happened all along."
If people aren't happy to go out, they don't go out and that's what's happened all along.
The RSA is organising its own small parade in the carpark since there will be no street parades for servicemen and women after the council decision.
Civic parades are going ahead in neighbouring Thames-Coromandel.
Henderson said when the council asked for the RSA's opinion, the Government was making temporary decisions and she requested that the council wait a month.
Some RSA members were still wary of going out, especially now that vaccine mandates had been lifted, she said.
Veteran Bill Burgess said he didn't think the council's decision was the right one.
"I think people can make their own minds up about whether they want to attend a service," he said.
Mayor Adams said he appreciated this had been a difficult decision for the community: "The difference for us as a council is that our street parades are all on state highways, unlike other towns who may be able to hold their parade through their main street, so our lead-in time for getting traffic management plans in place is earlier, along with the costs associated with that.
"At the time the decision had to be made, we were aware there may be changes to the traffic light settings, but not what they would look like, so the primary concern was for the safety of the vulnerable in our community. Had we received earlier notification from central government on what the new restrictions would look like, our decision process would have been different.
"What we have been hard at work doing is putting together [an] Anzac Commemoration video which will be done as a series of episodes starting on Wednesday this week through to Sunday 24, and then a full new video on Anzac Day itself.
"We'll have them on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. We have filmed at various RSAs and have involved Paeroa College. We've had incredible support from all involved, particularly the returned servicemen."
The video features actor Mark Wright, who lives in Waihi Beach.
"Mark Wright has done an excellent job of interviewing everyone and bringing out their stories, as well as performing his monologue from his play, which is a work in progress and tentatively titled Voices from Gallipoli, which will feature in the main Anzac Day video."
Paeroa College students met Wright at the Paeroa RSA last week, where he emceed a Q&A session about Gallipoli and interviewed the returned servicemen.
This will feature as its own episode on Sunday.
The council has made $1500 donations to the Ngatea, Paeroa and Waihi RSAs' Poppy funds.
● Wednesday April 20 to Monday April 25: various videos broadcast including on Anzac Day Mark Wright's 20-minute Voices behind the Uniforms, featuring footage of his play and from previous services and parades. The stories are funny and sad.
