Whangamata community leaders are working together on a combined plan for the Lindsay Rd site after saving it from a sale. Photo / Alison Smith
Whangamata community leaders are working together on a combined plan for the Lindsay Rd site after saving it from a sale. Photo / Alison Smith
People power has blocked a council land sell-off in Whangamatā - for now - and the community has grand plans for its future.
Thames-Coromandel District Council has deferred any decision to declare land at 101 Lindsay Rd surplus, and sought community representatives and staff to develop a business case for future use and consideration by council.
The business case is to be presented to council no later than December 30, 2023.
"We've got the land, we're set to move on it," says Rob Boston, chairman of the Whangamata Residents and Ratepayers Association.
Protest signs were waved in May when TCDC proposed to sell the site for an expected $3 million. The council forecasted a $152m debt this financial year.
At the same time it sought feedback on buying land occupied by the Matarangi Golf Club for $2.26m.
More than 1620 submitters responded to the draft LTP, far more than for any other recent Long Term Plan consultation.
A group of 12 have been suggested to find how the sought-after land in the heart of Whangamata's commercial and industrial area can best serve the community while creating a source of income.
Identifying 'guiding principles' for its use, the group say activities should enhance the mana and wairua of Whangamata, its people and the surrounding environment.
"We haven't got anything like this, and there is a need in Whangamata," says Peter Priest, who is among those advocating for a community marae facility.
"A Whangamata marae identifies us as New Zealanders, it embraces our ethnicities and is the support and wairua we want to move forward on.
"We also have no accommodation for visiting groups in town. Rather than having a town that's a gated community, we need a place for younger people to come. Without them, we have no future."
Whangamata has a history of building its own facilities. Among them, the Whangamata Real Estate Community Pool, and the Whangamata Information Centre.
Councillor Terry Walker led the motion to defer the land sale and it was unanimously passed.
Outise TCDC offices is Whangamata Ratepayers' Rob Boston, Ben Dunbar-Smith, Helena Vaughan and Waveney Vaughan both of Whangamata. Photo / Alison Smith
Cr Walker is establishing a wider group of 25 community leaders to meet four times annually with locally elected members to keep the community informed of TCDC proposals in future.
"I think it will help us as a community to understand the issues so they don't end up in legal actions all the time," he said.
HISTORY By Whangamata historian Anne Stewart-Ball
From when Madeleine Williamson transferred the land to Thames County in 1964 by the Public Works Act so mainly a milk cooler station could be built, its use has been changeable over 57 years.
As with any rural coastal small-town myths and misinformation abound along with stories passed down. 101 Lindsay Rd was not gifted. Letters, title deeds and deeds of transfer exist.
Joanne Beamish White, a Williamson family member, said both Philip and Madeline Williamson, who also gifted much land for various community activities, if still alive, would probably prefer 101 Lindsay Rd not to be sold.
"Their preference would be that it be kept for future generations and be used by the many Whangamata community organisations who have not a permanent place to be," Joanne said.
