Community wants council to continue to own hall

The Ophir community outside the Ophir Peace Memorial Hall after a meeting to discuss the hall’s future. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON

The hall is one of many facilities the Central Otago District Council is looking to sell through its long-term plan.

The council is looking to cut costs and get rid of buildings which it says have limited use and high operational and capital expenditure costs.

The plan went out for consultation last week and the Ophir community had a meeting on Sunday to discuss issues and decide on its submission.

The hall, or the Ophir Peace Memorial Hall as it is known, will be 100 years old next year and the community wants it to stay in council hands.

Ophir Welfare Committee chairman Garry Price said the meeting went well and they were keen to be heard at the plan hearings.

He said a significant amount of money had been raised over the past few years to go towards the facility. He declined to say the exact sum but said it was above six figures.

"We have brand-new toilets, polished all the floor, upgraded the kitchen, new heat pumps ... We have done a lot of work on it," he said.

"Last year we had 85 days when the hall was being used. We do it for all sorts of things — movies, which are shown and people come from all over, weddings, funerals. We try to have a music event every month and people who come here to play just loved playing here."

Mr Price said in the council’s long-term plan, the council said the 36 facilities it wanted to get rid of had little use and were costing too much.

He said the Ophir hall was neither of these and would continue to work well.

The community did not want to take up ownership of the hall, Mr Price said.

"It is hard enough getting volunteers to help out. You are talking about setting up a trust, getting specialist people involved and having to look after a building."

The council was set up for that role, he said.

Other council buildings up for possible sale include the Poolburn, Becks and Clyde halls, Vallance Cottage and the former Riding for the Disabled building.

Submissions on the long-term plan close on May 1 and hearings are likely to take place later that month.

The hall was called the peace memorial hall as the government of the day funded it and wanted peace to be emphasised, Mr Price said.