The doors are closing for good at Kopuarahi Community Hall, and Pātetonga Community Hall is likely to follow suit.
A public meeting was held in Pātetonga on November 27, to form an incorporated society which would have the legal power to make decisions about the hall. Around 15 locals turned up, along with Hauraki District Council Mayor Toby Adams, Plains Ward councillors and council community services manager Eva Mayor.
The meeting saw 12 attendees sign up for the Pātetonga Hall Incorporated Society. They now need to decide what to do with Pātetonga Hall, and the 1012 square metre parcel of land it sits on.
Among their options are repairing the run-down building and taking on its ongoing operation and maintenance, which would come at a significant cost; or disposing of the building and selling the land.
Minutes from the last meeting in November, 2023, said the cost to repair the building was prohibitive, no funding was available, and interest in the building had waned significantly in the wake of Covid-19 and the closure of the local school.
Although a consensus to dispose of the hall was reached at that meeting, the council had advised attendees that they needed to form the incorporated society to ensure they could make those decisions.
Pātetonga resident Clare Ward, who was on the hall committee, said there were extensive issues with the building.
“We have had interest from people wanting to use the hall, but because of electrical issues and water issues, it has just not been possible,” she said, also pointing out that the out-of-the-way location of the hall meant it wasn’t attractive as a venue.
“There’s three of us that have been looking after the hall for a while and we’re just looking for the best interest that we can for the community with what’s best for the hall. [The meeting] was actually quite nice because it gave the community an opportunity to voice their concerns of forming an incorporated society… Give everyone a bit of peace of mind before going forward.”
Meanwhile, Kopuarahi Community Hall has already been consigned to disposal by its own newly-formed incorporated society.
The hall, which was recently listed for sale, was facing similar problems to Pātetonga. A decision was made on May 14 last year to sell the hall and its 4046 square metre parcel of land, and in October, the Kopuarahi Community Centre Incorporated Society was formed for this purpose.
At its December 18 meeting, the council resolved to rezone the land under the Pātetonga and Kopuarahi halls from Active Reserve to Rural, to facilitate their sales.
Eva said the council has been working to deal with its community halls over the last couple of years. The halls are run by committees made up of locals, unlike the war memorial halls in the town centres which are managed directly by the council.
Eva said the fates of the halls needed to be decided one way or another.
“There’s a lot of passion in the community, but… Where it’s not utilised as much, it’s falling into disrepair. There’s nobody to run it and there’s just not the interest,” she said.
“The council doesn’t want it to become a derelict building. It’s going to get people starting to break in and they’d have to make a decision eventually.”
There was also the issue of council funds set aside for each hall’s upkeep, which had been collected in previous years from targeted rates. When a hall is disposed of, Eva said it was up to each incorporated society to decide how it would distribute the funds back into its community.
All is not lost for the humble rural hall, though. Some rural Hauraki communities, such as Turua and Waitakaruru, have embraced and revitalised their community meeting places.
The Turua Hall committee has planned an extensive remodel, and its adjacent playground was replaced in September.
“The Turua community is doing a lot to better its facilities for the people that live there,” Eva said.
“I’ve worked with Waitakaruru to get them re-incorporated. They actually have a lot of rates that have been collected over time waiting for that community to be a legal entity – we could release those funds now they’re choosing to do something with their hall.”
