Whanganui dawn service organiser rubbishes claims council charged for memorial centre use

The traditional Anzac Day rum and coffee function was held at Club Metro this year. Photo / Lewis Gardner

The organiser of Sunday's Anzac Day dawn service has rubbished claims that the Whanganui District Council attempted to charge the RSA for use of the War Memorial Centre.

Claims began spreading online on Sunday that the council had told the RSA it would cost $2000 to host the traditional rum and coffee function at the Whanganui War Memorial Centre after the dawn service on Sunday.

The claims appear to have been sparked after the RSA decided to move the function from the centre to Club Metro on Ridgway St for the first time this year, due to a lack of qualified volunteers.

However, event organiser Kyle Dalton said the claims were untrue and the RSA made the call to move the function to make life easier for organisers.

"There was no charge, there never has been, for using the War Memorial Centre," Dalton said.

The move was made to simplify the event, with a bar manager and staff already on-site at Club Metro, he said.

"We needed qualified volunteers. You have to have a bar manager, you have to have people there with food handling certificates, and you need to have equipment there too.

"It just made more sense."

Whanganui deputy mayor Jenny Duncan said after she saw the claims online, she contacted council chief executive Kym Fell, who confirmed there was never any suggestion of a charge.

"The council would never consider charging the RSA for that activity," Duncan said.

"We would always bend over backwards to do whatever we could to facilitate the service.

"We're really keen to see it back there next year. It is an RSA decision, but council fully supports [Anzac services]."