Vietnam veteran Bill Godfrey, 78, leads the final parade at the Kerikeri RSA on Cobham Rd in 2019. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Vietnam veteran Bill Godfrey, 78, leads the final parade at the Kerikeri RSA on Cobham Rd in 2019. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A remembrance wall will be built at Kerikeri Domain to replace the war memorial lost when the Bay of Islands town's RSA was forced to sell its clubrooms almost three years ago.
The curved stone monument, which will be 4m long and 1.6m tall at the highest point, will be the focus for future Anzac Day commemorations. Four flagpoles will be installed, including the former Navy flagpost from the old memorial.
It will be built between the Chris Booth sculpture and Procter Library, towards the existing playground. A new playground will eventually be built next to Cobham Rd as part of the Kerikeri Domain redevelopment.
Work was to have started last Tuesday but it's now hoped earthworks will begin this week. The start date depends on contractor availability.
At a Far North District Council meeting in December, councillors voted unanimously to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kerikeri RSA.
''We are still very much looking forward to having it completed, though we are slightly frustrated that it's taking so long. We were promised it for last Anzac Day."
Shilton said he realised building a memorial on council land brought extra hurdles and delays.
AnnMaree Mills, the RSA representative on the project group, said the memorial would take eight weeks to build. It was due to be completed a week before Anzac Day.
The memorial would be funded by the Kerikeri RSA Trust, using some of the proceeds from the sale of its Cobham Rd buildings, and Veterans Affairs New Zealand.
Plaques from the old memorial had been refurbished or replaced and would be mounted on the new wall.
Lance Corporal Gemma Love from the Kerikeri Cadet Unit places a poppy beside a flagpole at Kerikeri Domain last year. Photo / Jenny Ling
At the December meeting, councillor Rachel Smith, who is also a member of the Kerikeri Domain Working Group, said the Kerikeri RSA did not currently have its own home or a place the veterans could identify with.
''I implore that we empower the RSA to deliver this project after a substantial amount of mahi (work) they've put into it,'' she said.
Fellow councillor David Clendon supported the project but questioned the $5000 a year budgeted for maintenance, pointing out that it amounted to $100 a week to maintain a wall.
Council asset manager Andy Finch said the budgeted amount factored in fixing any vandalism or graffiti.
The memorial wall location has yet to be finalised but one option is between the Chris Booth sculpture and Procter Library. Photo / supplied
The Kerikeri RSA was forced to sell its Cobham Rd clubrooms in 2019 due to falling membership and soaring costs, especially rates and insurance.
The RSA had to pay full commercial rates due to a function centre that formed part of the complex.
The buildings were bought by Swedish-owned Metlifecare, which is planning to expand its Oak Ridge retirement village with more villas and a care centre.
Shilton said RSA members now met at the Homestead Tavern every Thursday and had the use of an office and hall at St James Church near the Stone Store.
''We're managing to find new places and new ways of carrying on after losing our premises, so it's working out reasonably well,'' he said.
The memorial will be built by Kaitaia firm Stonecraft, which restored Kaitaia's historic war memorial.
The 1916 Kaitaia memorial is remarkable because it was commissioned not by the Government or council of the day, but by Te Rarawa leader Riapo Puhipi (Leopold Busby), who also raised the money required.
