Tuesday’s meeting of the Raglan Community Board approved a design concept prepared by Beca Infrastructure for the Waikato District Council. Approval of the plans followed a lengthy consultation process with input for the community and wharf stakeholders.
In May 2010, frustrated by lack of action by the Waikato District Council, Raglan resident, Barry Ashby, called his own public meeting on getting the wharf working again. The meeting passed a motion stating that the replacement wharf buildings should be similar in design and look to the ones that burnt down. i.e. Traditional steel wharf sheds.
After a lack of action by Council wharf tenant, Mark Mathers hired a designer and came up with his own design for a replacement wharf building. At that time WDC agreed to the plan as a concept.
WDC then engaged Beca Infrastructure to come up with a repair proposal for the wharf structure and a design for the wharf building. At a public meeting on the 11th November an architect from Beca Infrastructure presented a concept for a modern replacement building on the wharf. The meeting rejected this design and told WDC/ Beca to use the community design that Mark Mathers and Peter Storey had come up with previously. People did like the idea of a modular design within the building structure and Tony Sly said that as a tenant he would appreciate ways of getting more light into the building. It was pointed out that the Beca design didn’t seem to fit the needs of working wharf.
Beca returned to Raglan on 6th December 2010 for another public meeting and another set of building plans. There was much discussion on the lean-to building design at the Wallis St end versus the gable design. A show of hands at the meeting saw slightly more people voting for the gable design.
Beca Infrastructure and Council then further refined this design in consultation with Mark Mathers of Raglan Seafoods and other stakeholders including Raglan Coastguard and Wahinemoe. Members of the Raglan Community Board took part in these discussions. A plan presented to the Community Board with steps where a cart dock was needed was rejected by the Board.
After this very lengthy consultation process, Council’s Water & Facilities GM, Richard Bax presented the final set of plans to the Community Board for approval. The Board Chair allowed some public discussion and many people spoke in favor of the lean-to design that had been proposed by Mr Mathers in 2010. There seemed to be agreement that the floor plan in the proposed building met the needs of most tenants. Councillor Baddeley said that many people did not want a traditional steel shed design at all and wanted a more modern design and that it was not possible to please everybody in the community. The Board members voted on the design and it was approved by the Chair’s casting vote. Community Board Chairperson, Rodger Gallagher said, ‘The Board had placed getting the wharf working again as its number one priority. It is pleasing to take another step towards this goal.”