Eyesore or asset? The fire-damaged pavilion at Kerikeri Domain will be demolished in February. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Eyesore or asset? The fire-damaged pavilion at Kerikeri Domain will be demolished in February. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Demolition of a fire-damaged sports pavilion at Kerikeri Domain will go ahead in February, the Far North District Council says.
The announcement ends years of to-ing and fro-ing over the future of the building, which was damaged in an arson attack in 2016.
It also comes just as the KerikeriRatepayers Association and new lobby group Friends of the Domain prepare to hold a public meeting on the future of the Domain — including the pavilion — this evening.
The decision will be welcomed by Kerikeri Squash Club, which co-owned the pavilion before signing it over to the council in 2009, and has been homeless and in limbo since the fire.
The club hopes to use its share of the insurance to build new courts on a site long set aside at the Kerikeri Sports Complex by the Heritage Bypass.
Local lobby group Vision Kerikeri also backs demolition and has called for a new multi-use facility that wouldn't cut the Domain off from Cobham Rd.
Others, however, have long fought the building's removal, including former councillor Dave Hookway, who maintained that fire damage was minor and that demolishing the pavilion was waste of a well-used public asset.
Hookway fought in vain to get a copy of the engineer's fire damage report and led the charge when an earlier decision to demolish the pavilion was reversed in August 2017 with councillors instead voting to repair it. That decision was itself reversed in June 2019.
Former Far North District councillor Dave Hookway and Jane Johnson, of the Kerikeri Ratepayers Association, during a visit to the fire-damaged pavilion in 2017. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Friends of the Domain spokeswoman Kathryn Starr said the council's reluctance to provide information about the pavilion's future had led to ill-feeling, suspicion and confusion in the community.
''The decision to demolish was made in public exclusion. Friends of the Domain is concerned that existing users are not being given a fair hearing or a voice in the process,'' she said.
Council asset manager Andy Finch said removing the pavilion and grandstand would ''provide improved connectivity and street appeal at the Domain and help to create a better public space''.
It could also allow the development of a multi-use facility catering for a range of activities.
The council would help Kerikeri Squash Club relocate to the Heritage Bypass site, where the council would build new squash courts with insurance proceeds, budgeted funds and squash club money.
"The squash club built the courts at the Domain in the late 60s-early 70s. They have been homeless since the fire so we're committed to doing everything we can to help them establish a new base."
Demolition by Whangārei firm NPM Remediation and site reinstatement would take about a month. The council would try to minimise impact on Cobham Rd businesses and Domain users, Finch said.
