The earthquake-prone hall in the Maniototo has caught the eye of the tavern’s proprietor, but the Central Otago District Council says it is unable to sell it to her.
Wedderburn Tavern owner Angela Stockdale wrote to the Maniototo Community Board in August wanting to enter into discussion about buying the hall, which sits 500m from her country pub.
In her letter she said while the hall had historically been a cornerstone of the community, it was no longer able to meet the community’s needs.
"The hall, in its current state, is becoming a burden to the community and does not represent us well," she wrote.
She said she could transform it into private accommodation for staff, which would address "a major issue" in the tiny Central Otago community — population 47.
At yesterday’s Maniototo Community Board meeting, council asset management team leader property Janice Remnant informed the board that while Ms Stockdale’s reason for wanting to purchase the hall was sound, the council could not sell it to her because it did not own it.
The Wedderburn Hall is Crown derived and the council is appointed only to manage it.
It is also subject to the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act, meaning iwi have right of first refusal in any sale.
"It’s not vested in council and so we technically don’t own it," Ms Remnant said.
The last official use of the hall was in 2007, but it had been used since on an ad hoc basis.
The council would first need to determine if the Wedderburn community wanted to retain the hall for community use, and there had been some interest in it lately, as the Wedderburn community changed.
"[The community] are starting to use the hall . . . they’re also starting to do a little bit of tidying up work around [it]," she said.
If the council was to continue to operate the hall, about $393,000 would need to be spent on earthquake strengthening and fire compliance to bring it up to requirements, she said.
At the meeting, Cr Stu Duncan said it was great there was reignited enthusiasm for the hall.
"There’s a lot [that] has changed. There’s a of lot young ones and wee kiddies now."
The community board decided to let Ms Stockdale know it could not sell her the hall, and to talk to Wedderburn residents about what they wanted done with the hall.
Ms Stockdale said she was aware it had been discussed, but declined to comment.
