Ernie Christison brought up concerns about the level of service in the Tararua District Council at the community board meeting. Photo / Christine McKay
Safety and long delays in getting work requests done are frustrating some members of the Dannevirke Community Board.
Ernie Christison and Ron Wallace raised the concerns in relation to Ruahine St, opposite Totara College at the board’s October meeting, saying they had asked for something to be done late last year.
Wallace asked chairman Pat Walshe what had been done about it.
“It’s still a mess.”
Walshe said he had put in requests a number of times.
Wallace advised there was a safety issue and he had seen a little girl almost get clipped by a vehicle at that location.
“Nothing gets done. Why should we have to persist?”
Christison said he was unhappy about the level of service, noting that people in the community expected to be able to raise their concerns through the community board.
“I don’t think the CRM system works all the time. There’s a lot of jobs out there, like Totara College, that haven’t been done.”
He was also concerned about trees hanging over the footpath and had approached the school, but was told there was no money in the budget for pruning.
“We might as well go down there as a community board, have a working bee and fix the job.”
Christison also raised concerns about the roundabout in Christian St, saying it was a traffic hazard, particularly for trucks using Riverdale Rd.
He said it also meant visibility could be impaired for those driving a low vehicle and suggested the council consider making it a concrete one, which would be more cost-effective and present less of an issue.
Regent Cinema
Dannevirke’s Regent is to get a grant from the community board.
The cinema trust, an incorporated society, first made an application via the scheme for $3500 to fund the installation of heat pumps in the cinema and it was tabled at the board’s August meeting.
However, board members expressed concerns over the earthquake-prone building, which is listed as a category 2 by Heritage New Zealand, and decided to defer the application until they could get more information.
Last month, a representative of the trust committee spoke to the board detailing what the grant was for and what the future of the cinema would be.
A proposal was made for an alternative use for the funds - the cost of movie licence fees for 1000 tickets.
Board member Terry Hynes noted the October meeting was the third such where the proposal had come up for discussion.
“Last meeting we had a very good presentation from the Regent Theatre trust. Since then I’ve certainly ratified what’s been said and I speak in favour of supporting the request.”
He said he noted there was concern about the earthquake risk for the building, “but then that goes for most of the buildings on High Street”.
Hynes had since checked with Tararua District Council staff and learned that the building did have a warrant of fitness, which had been brought up in the last meeting.
He said the organisation was doing a service to the community, providing a source of income in raising funds for a variety of charities.
Umutaoroa Domain
Board members had attended a meeting of the Umutaoroa Domain Board where the fate of the domain was discussed.
The domain is located at the old school, and the building, which was now a health and safety hazard and “needs to be removed or demolished”, Hynes said.
Trees surrounding the domain were also considered hazardous and one had recently fallen on top of the school.
In the short term, the board was considering selling the building to salvage some of the materials.
“There’s some quite good native timber in that building,” Hynes said.
He said the long-term proposal was to develop a recreational facility for the community which would include picnic shelters and a barbecue facility.
A memorial to past district residents was also being considered.
Funding would be sought locally and Horizons Regional Council had also been to the site to look it over with a view to funding native plants as the domain board was considering developing a native bush reserve in a section north of the hall.
Christison said there was a “good chance they will come to the party”.
Council proposes to remove housing development from future plans due to risk.