From the Editor: This could still be a possibility for the beach front to extend the current rock wall.
Recap
There have been several articles in The Informer and Waikato Times since the club building was threatened to wash away during Cyclone Hale. It was moved back by huge tucks and placed on temporary stands for over three years. There were a number of concerns from several parties then about keeping the building there due to it being a sacred site amongst other concerns.
An attempt was made to place it on Dundas Street Reserve adjacent to the estuary but that failed finally due to DoC charging a rental well beyond what any community group could afford. There was also a legal battle relating to residential objection to it being placed on that Dundas Street site. This stole energy, funds and goodwill. So now the temporary stands have been removed, and the club building sits about 50 metres back from where it once was. There are no piles or slabs underneath it.
From the Commodore
“First, I wish to say, we are in good heart and the next National Regatta is in August here in Mercury Bay and another in November. Also, at this present time we are advertising for a summer sailing coach. And have positive leads”
With regards to the Boating Club building, we had a meeting just last week and there is much to report. Sadly or maybe not, there has been no committed interest in anyone purchasing the building for removal.
“A supporter has discussed the option of keeping the building where it is with a number of key decision makers – Joe Davis (Ngati Hei), Warren Maher (Waikato Regional Council), Flemming Rasmussen (legal implications), TCDC and Community Board representatives; All are clear — they want the yacht club to be spared demolition and to stay where it is and will support this.
However, there is one sticking point and that is with Heritage New Zealand.
“We can’t bypass Heritage New Zealand even though the local iwi have given us the go ahead. The sticking issue is that the area is an Urupa – a sacred site to local iwi. Not digging into the ground is the concern, but we could place the building on a concrete slab. Our supporter has been enquiring and making arrangements with local businesses for assistance and this is positive. But there’s still the matter of running utilities to the new site which require elements of digging up the surface. The original pipes are still sitting back where the boating club was before Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle.
“This land is owned by council, and council is beholden to Heritage New Zealand. We still need to get a resource and building permit and that requires Heritage New Zealand to give the go ahead. That one-metre trench for the essential pipes requires that kind of permission.
This all requires a lot of energy which takes away from the focus on sailing which is why we exist.
Good news
We have had some encouraging news which is just terrific.
Another supporter has offered financial assistance in moving of our container which stores a lot of our equipment to the site where our building is. At present the container is down at Ohuka Reserve near the Macrocarpa tree but this has always been a temporary measure. This assistance could extend to the re-establishment of the club house on its present site on a concrete base or low impact piles. This is overwhelming generosity but we are stifled by the policy of Heritage New Zealand.
A recent court case involving a heritage site found 30cm of intrusion was too much. In the meantime, we have no real choice but to leave the building like it is while we see if any pathway forward is feasible. As a committee in its 4th year of dealing with this, it’s safe to say we are exhausted.
Matt Algie, Chair of the Community Driving Trust which is now no longer in operation have donated the garage they owned which housed their community van. This stands at the Mercury Bay Bowling Club who have offered a free lease and this garage will house our boats, all in close proximity to the Boating Club site.
“We do have understandable pressure from the Council management to clear up the reserve where the clubhouse stood but much of the obstacles in the way are not ours. In fact we can’t even remove the buildings old piles and infrastructure without upsetting Heritage NZ. The soon to be commenced homeowners wall will restrict use of the reserve anyway. We need to have a clear pathway forward to keep on being The Mercury Bay Boating Club. We tried and committed to so many options that have drained our finances and our energy. We believe that Whitianga and this region wants our Boating Club to do well. We have had such generous support which we can never repay. There will always be reasons why we can’t get this building set here so this one sticking point needs to be unraveled and overcome.
“We accept that members of council are right behind us. The argument is with Heritage New Zealand.”
Summing Up
Phil’s report is somewhat puzzling as not far from the Boating Club site, the Taputapuatea Stream bridge was built with substantial land disturbance along with two poles at the point to mark the significant traditional Maori cultural entrance along with further poles within the spit itself where a traditional storehouse was planned to be built. They have never been finished, as the motifs have not been placed on top and storehouse never built. The bridge foundation and poles would have had to have been dug into the ground. The earth would need to have been disturbed for the poles to be placed there and stand high for all these years. This is the same area on which the Boating Club building stands and that same area was once a sawmill, the Mercury Timber Company Mill, with untold level of construction and ground use in our history.
The rules applied by Heritage New Zealand seem to be different according to the request.
Phil Hart, Commodore, and his team, are committed sailors and want to develop youth sailing more. The local Mercury Bay Area School has been working towards boat building classes in the same way as the plane building project.
They have worked hard and still have hope things can be done. We will need our community and government leaders to go in to bat for them in this next short term.
Please see the advertisement for Sailing Coach page 25.
