Eyesore worries Rangiriri community

The building has been listed for sale. Photo / Christine Cornege

A derelict building on the main street of Rangiriri has the community up in arms as the Rugby World Cup looms.

For years the Rangiriri community committee has been urging the Waikato District Council and Wetland Trust, owner of the building, to clean up the eyesore but say they have reached a stalemate.

Evermore Gift Shop and the Rangiriri Cafe and Heritage Centre owner Sandie Odlum said the community had been left with a makeshift rubbish dump at its heart. And with only weeks to go before thousands of visitors arrived for the World Cup, she worried that the popular stop-off halfway between Auckland and Hamilton would let the side down.

"Here we are stuck with this absolute mess in the middle of the village that no one is doing anything about. As we are considered the gateway of Waikato, it's not a good look."

The Wetland Trust bought the building in 2000 with plans to develop a visitor centre and build a trail around Lake Waikare and Whangamarino Rd.

But negotiations with the Waikato District Council turned sour and they partnered with Waipa District Council to build at Lake Serpentine near Te Awamutu. The trust is trying to sell the property to raise $1 million for the proposed National Wetland Trust Trail.

Ms Odlum said the empty building would look even worse for the town once the Waikato Expressway opened in 2013 as the new entrance to the town would be directly opposite the abandoned building.

The community committee this year asked the district council to buy the land for a recreational facility and park with the town's first public toilet but the council voted no, putting it off until the 2011-12 budget. The item will be raised again during the 2012 Long Term Plan discussions.

As well, tourists are still picking up brochures advertising the Rangiriri trail which never happened.

Ms Odlum, who also runs her own information centre from her gift shop, said she had to redirect tourists holding brochures advertising the wetlands trail and looking for the centre almost every week.

Wetland Trust treasurer and founder David Lawrie said the building had been listed with real estate agents for 12 months and there had been no interest.

"We are probably going to do nothing with the building, it's almost at the stage where it needs to be demolished."

He was aware of a community proposal to buy the property but had not been approached by the council.

Mr Lawrie said the Wetland Trust was open to looking at upgrading the site if it still owned it when the Rangiriri stretch of the expressway was completed.