A grassroots meeting of Raglan residents on Saturday 15th has sent a demand to the Waikato District Council that it acts immediately on rebuilding the Raglan Wharf buildings. The meeting was initiated by Raglan resident Barry Ashby to seek community views on rebuilding the Raglan Wharf buildings after the disastrous Raglan Wharf fire. Over 70 people crammed into the Raglan Town Hall Supper Room. The meeting was superbly chaired by Barry’s son Craig Ashby.
The meeting opened with Craig explaining that the meeting had not been called by the Waikato District Council and it was not a Council meeting. Council staff, Councillors, and Raglan Community had not been specifically invited. Although they could have attended the meeting, none of them were present. Councillor Baddeley gave his apologies and Craig said he had provided the following information on how Council saw the rebuild:
- The only cash for the rebuild was that available from the insurance claim
- The sheds would be rebuilt as soon as possible to get the marine/ fishing industries going
- No radical change is planned
- The wharf would continue to develop as a tourist destination
The meeting discussed many options and views. Businesses who had been working from the wharf said that they wanted to return there as soon as possible. The meeting passed three motions to provide to Council:
- Facilities for the fishing fleet must be reestablished immediately. This includes ice making, a compressor and power
- A representative group be formed and this group meets regularly with Council to get the Wharf and building up and running again ASAP
- The replacement wharf buildings should be similar in design and look to the ones that burnt down. i.e. Traditional steel wharf sheds
A number of points were agreed on, to put to Council.
These included:
- How much money is available from Harbour Reserve land rents for wharf redevelopment?
- Has any of the money from Harbour Reserve land rents been allocated for other purposes?
- Overnight security is a concern at the wharf and security lights should be installed on the new building
- How long will the wharf structure last?
- What is the financial approval process for approving the wharf building replacements?
- The redevelopment needs to be done multi-stage on a priority basis. e.g. the coast guard is working from two containers. The next top priority is the ice tower- Currently ice is being trucked in from Auckland at twice the cost.
- What date will the ice tower be up and running?
- What businesses won’t be allowed at the wharf?
- Can the footprint of the replacement buildings be reduced so more parking is provided?
- New building needs to have fire walls between tenancies and a 24 hour monitored fire and security system.
- Can recycled materials be used in the construction so that the look of old rafters and beams inside the buildings is obtained? For example how the Moeraki Cafe was constructed. Rosie Worsp has started a photo collection of wharf developments around the country. She mentioned the Devonport Wharf as an example. Other people mentioned Whakatane wharf as an excellent redevelopment example
People at the meeting congratulated Barry’s community spirit for initiating the meeting and people wondered why Council had not convened this type of meeting immediately after the fire. A vote of thanks to Barry and Craig Ashby was passed for initiating the meeting. Many people said that they were happy with the outcome of the meeting and the clear consensus of views. The meeting resolutions and points will be passed to Council in the near future.