An artist’s impressions of a proposed civic facility, and aerial photographs of the pool and War Memorial Stadium. IMAGES/FILE
Masterton residents have been called to join a protest against the council’s $30 million civic facility plans and “save our stadium … and our pools”.
Promotional material for the protest state: “The council is looking to replace your stadium and your pool with their civic centre. Enough is enough!”
The protest was scheduled for 3pm on April 9 at the grassy area on the northern end of Masterton’s outdoor lido pool.
The Masterton Action Group [MAG], which has organised the April 9 protest, said the council’s civic facility campaign had been “littered with lazy thinking, ill-judged decisions, and an unwavering refusal by [a] slender majority of councillors and the mayor to engage in an open and transparent forum”.
“We have a problem. Actually, we have six of them. Our mayor and five of our councillors,” MAG promotional material for the protest states.
“Each of them were elected to represent the ward of Masterton and the well-being of the people who live here. Elected to provide a bridge between the community and the council.
Unfortunately, that bridge has collapsed, and now they are looking to demolish our War Memorial Stadium and lido pools as well.”
In response to growing tensions about the project, Masterton District Council has issued a “Civic Facility Fact Check” statement.
“No one has proposed to close or remove any part of the recreation centre complex or War Memorial Stadium, so we want to take a moment to clear up some details,” the council said.
“No decisions have been made by council, and no proposals or options have been worked up by our architects for the new civic facility site.
“Rest assured, the council won’t make any decisions until people have had a chance to give feedback on the options presented to council.
“Any options will be made public well in advance of any decision being made.”
The protest would be the second demonstration against the council project in the past year.
In June last year, several hundred residents linked arms around the town hall in opposition to the council’s plans to build a new facility at another location.
The town hall was deemed earthquake-prone in 2016, and the council voted 6-5 last year to progress a civic facility at a new site in northern Masterton with some external funding.
The latest location being investigated by the council for the civic facility is the recreation centre site, which is also home to the pools and War Memorial Stadium.
This comes after the council’s attempts to purchase a site from Masterton Trust Lands Trust were abandoned.
The recreation centre site investigation has faced opposition from high-profile residents such as former Masterton Mayor Bob Francis.
There are two main camps in the civic facility debate: those who want a new facility at the town hall site [retaining the town hall façade and extending the library at its Queen St location], and those who want a new civic facility encompassing a library and other functions at a northern site.
Some residents want the project scrapped and do not believe Masterton needs a civic facility.
No proposals have been received for the recreation centre site, but the architect has made public three early sketches to show the site’s potential.
Some sketches would require the demolition of the recreation centre’s outdoor lido pool or smaller indoor lane pool.
Another sketch showed the civic facility footprint on top of the War Memorial Stadium.
Masterton District Council’s community facilities and activities manager Corin Haines said the sketches were not proposals the council would choose from but were early sketches that showed how the site could be used.
He said Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson had contacted representatives of several stakeholders, including the Masterton Swimming Club, in early March to advise them of work being done to look at possibilities at the site.
“The next step will involve sitting down with them to discuss the project with members of the project team,” Haines said.
“This will happen shortly. Other stakeholders being contacted include iwi, the RSA, Golden Shears, the Lions Club, and Belgravia Leisure. To date, workshops have been held with theatre, library, archive, info hub, and pre-function space users to establish user requirements in a new facility.”
Civic Facility Project Committee meetings are now being held in public, adding transparency to decision-making as they were previously closed to the public due to commercially sensitive negotiations with a private landowner.
The present site being considered is council-owned land.
A Masterton District Council spokesperson confirmed the smaller indoor lane pool was built in the 1980s and cost more than $800,000.
Records indicate a fundraising group, the War Memorial Indoor Pool Association, raised about $170,000 for this. — NZLDR
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
