Lovells Flat Hall is to be demolished, following a Clutha District Council decision on Thursday. PHOTO: CLUTHA DISTRICT COUNCIL A rural hall will be demolished, as a southern council wrestles with the future of the declining community assets. Clutha District Council made the final decision to demolish Lovells Flat Hall — following recent community consultation — and defer funding for Paretai Hall, during its meeting in Balclutha on Thursday. The decisions reignited debate among councillors about the future of the district’s halls, a majority of which remain in council ownership and incur maintenance costs for ratepayers. Following an unsuccessful bid to push through retrospective funding for essential work on Paretai Hall, Cr Dane Catherwood, representing the Catlins ward, said the council needed to shape a clear policy on future funding for all district halls. Cr Catherwood said without a clear and consistent funding policy, the council’s goal of passing halls into community ownership — where the desire to retain them existed — would not gain traction. Under current circumstances, committees could not be certain whether a hall would remain an asset or become a liability, if insufficient funding existed to maintain them. Council chief executive Steve Hill said policy could be considered as part of upcoming long term planning. Following further discussion, councillors agreed many community halls were underused nowadays, if at all. This meant they were unsustainable financially. Where no longer used, communities should consider their sale, removal or demolition, as would now occur at Lovells Flat, Cr Catherwood said. “We can't keep having little halls all the way round the district and bringing them up to spec at cost to the ratepayer. [Paretai Hall] may be one of a few that needs to go off the council books,” he said. The Paretai Hall committee had requested retrospective payment of $4376.74 for prior work to water-damaged ceiling and doors, which had been covered initially by a local business. This would come from the hall’s depreciation funds, but required council approval. The committee sought a further $20,000 towards an upcoming phase of refurbishments. Councillors baulked at the retrospective nature of the first payment, due to concerns it could set a precedent for other community-run assets. Cr Bruce Graham said he was “dead against” making the smaller payment. Councillors voted 6-3 against releasing the funds. Following further debate, they voted unanimously to defer any payment to the hall until long term plan discussions had taken place.
