Opononi i-Site claim doesn't wash

A working group established to find a solution to the Hokianga i-Site debacle is not convinced a Far North District Council decision to lease the visitor information centre to the local grocer can't be undone.

It will, however, wait for the outcome of an inquiry promised by Mayor John Carter before deciding whether to push for the decision to be reversed.

At its first meeting in November, the new council agreed to lease the i-Site building for up to 18 years to the operator of the Four Square store destroyed by fire five months earlier. The store had been sharing the building with the i-Site as a temporary measure, the original plan being for it to move back to its old location once the shop was rebuilt.

The council's decision allowing the Four Square to stay where it is leaves the rebuilt store's owner seeking a new tenant, and the i-Site without a home from March 31.

The debacle sparked an angry public meeting in Opononi last week, where Mr Carter blamed the previous council but promised a new i-Site would be built.

A working group formed to find a solution held its first meeting immediately afterward, chaired by Kaikohe-Hokianga Community Board chairman John Schollum.

"We don't believe that what has been done can't be undone. However, we will wait and see what transpires from John Carter's inquiries," the group's minutes stated.

The group said replacing the i-Site was urgent, but it did not want a "Keith Hay"-style box.

The character of the new building was of paramount importance. A relocatable building, or a short-term lease of the rebuilt store, would be acceptable as an interim measure.

The group was prepared to look at other locations, preferably on council-owned land, while the community would be invited to submit ideas for the location and design of a new i-Site. Any recommendations by the working group would go back to the community before a final decision was made.

The engineer for the Opononi Store rebuilding project, Thijs Drupsteen, speaking as a Hokianga resident, said it seemed ridiculous ratepayers were being forced to fund a new i-Site when a rebuilt store meeting all modern building standards was a month from completion.

While the council may have committed itself to accommodating the Four Square store for at least the next six years, such agreements were open to re-negotiation. That could inflict a financial penalty on the council but it was likely to be less than the time, effort and money required to build an i-Site.

He said the owner of the Opononi store was happy to have the Four Square operator back as a tenant and urged people not to accept "crazy statements" about a rent increase without checking they were true.

The combined i-Site/Hokianga Economic Development Centre was built four years ago at a cost to ratepayers of about $800,000.

The council owns the building but the land belongs to the Lloyd Family Trust.