The Foxton War Memorial Hall's fate will be decided in October.
The Foxton War Memorial Hall's fate will be decided in October.
Foxton War Memorial Hall has been handed yet another lifeline.
But this is now it. There will be no more of the recurring headlines. Horowhenua District Council (HDC) has instructed community groups wanting to save the hall to work together on a business plan that must be presented to the council by September 15.
The council will then make a final decision on the future of the hall at a meeting on October 16.
HDC has been trying to get some action on the hall since marking it for disposal in 2018. A backlash from sectors of the community led the council to explore transferring ownership to a local community group with the proviso it would release ratepayers of all financial burden.
Since then, numerous bids to save the hall have failed.
HDC met this week to consider three options: That it retains the hall and pays for earthquake compliance, that it transfers ownership to one or more community organisations, or a preferred option that it sells to the open market.
It was a late submission presented by deputy mayor and Kere Kere Ward councillor David Allan that gained the hall yet another reprieve.
The lifeline requires the Foxton War Memorial Hall Incorporated Society (FWMHS) and Tumatakahuki, a combined group of local hapū, to work together on a shared plan.
All going well, ownership and management of the hall would be passed for $1 to a new community entity that reflects their shared objectives.
Deputy mayor of Horowhenua David Allan.
Allan said there was potential for a new direction for the hall that would enrich the culture and heritage of Foxton in an area of town near the old Courthouse, Coronation Hall and Ihakara Gardens.
“Okay, there is a sense of been there done that, but this is a fresh start and gives parties the opportunity to work together towards a common goal,” he said.
“There is a chance to enrich the culture and heritage of our town.
“If it falls over, then we go to the open market where there is an opportunity to put conditions around that sale.”
The future of the hall was an emotive issue for the town. The most recent round of public consultation drew 63 submissions: 34 wanted the hall transferred to an organisation representing the community, 22 wanted the council to retain ownership and fund the upgrade, while seven wanted it sold on the open market.
The option for the council to retain the hall came at a price, with estimates as high as $2.1 million to gain earthquake-strengthening compliance, figures which the FWMHS has disputed.
The land and buildings were currently valued at less than $1m.
While the latest extension was unanimously supported by councillors when it went to vote, councillor Sam Jennings said the society had already been given numerous time extensions.
“What if it falls over? It comes back to council and we’re back where we were. This has been going on for a long time,” he said.
“It’s frustrating. I’m not saying the horse is dead and we stop flogging it, but it does need an end point.”
FWMHS, which had already been given numerous deadline extensions, submitted a business case in June 2023 but it failed to gain council approval.
Council officers were then directed to make plans for putting the hall on the open market but paused following another request from FWMHS, which prompted HDC to seek legal advice from Simpson Grierson to gain a definitive direction.
Simpson Grierson found that the land where the FWMH is located was gifted to Foxton Borough Council for the purposes of a war memorial by owners New Zealand Woolpack and Textiles in 1952, and agreements were drawn up and signed by all parties.
But nobody can find those original binding agreements, which would have provided clear guidance on whether or not it included conditions of sale or a prohibition of sale.
The Local Government Act requires a local authority to retain property for the purposes of which it was vested, although there was provision to permit sale in the absence of investiture instruction.
The building was “substantially” upgraded for the purposes of a War Memorial Hall funded through a government subsidy, local fundraising and donations, a monetary gift from NZWATL, and the sale of the old Foxton Library.
