Roxburgh residents voiced their anger at the Teviot Community Board about the Central Otago District Council’s lack of planning to replace the Roxburgh Entertainment Centre and town hall at the board’s six weekly community board meeting in Roxburgh on Thursday.
Local resident Janet McDonald said the workshop following the board meeting to discuss the Roxburgh Entertainment Centre replacement after fire destroyed it on Waitangi Day was poorly advertised and few people knew it was on.
"People are upset there has been very little information on the future of it. A meaningful and transparent process is needed."
A lot of the fear and concerns in the community would be alleviated with more information, she said.
"The council is creating a information vacuum."
The lack of consultation on the retention of the iconic facade was another sticking point.
Council chief executive Peter Kelly had said retaining it would have taken a lot of the $6.5 million insurance money, Mrs McDonald said.
"Why was it insured for so little?"
The rebuild needed to be put into the hands of the Teviot Valley community as they would do far more, for far less than the council would do, she said.
She requested a written response from the community board and council.
In other matters, Central Otago Health Inc member Caroline Tamblyn, of Coal Creek, asked the board if they were aware Dunstan Hospital, in Clyde, was community owned.
Like all other incorporated societies they were required to review their constitution and realised many people were unaware the Central Otago community were all shareholders in the hospital.
Central government had not provided healthcare, other than mental health services in Central Otago for 26 years and she wanted to point that out and let the community know.
She said members were separately elected to Central Health Inc at each local body election.
"No-one had been opposed at any election in 20 years," Mrs Tamblyn said.
"What a waste of money that election is."
While board members had always been "shoulder-tapped" it would be good to have wider representation from the community, she said.
A proposed sports hub at Millers Flat also brought some contention to the meeting. Teviot Prospects member and Millers Flat resident Pat Garden spoke in support of a report tabled later in the meeting asking for the board’s permission, but not money, to construct a sports hub on the Millers Flat recreation reserve. The project’s estimated cost of $650,000 would come from community funding and grants.
At present the area was the site of a war memorial, a playground, tennis/netball courts and an abandoned bowling green and pavilion.
The proposal included an artificial turf which would include tennis and pickleball courts along with provision for netball, hockey and cricket. Petanque, a children’s playground and a pump track were all in the plan.
After debate about the pros and cons of the proposed sports hub, the community board agreed to allow the redevelopment of the Millers Flat recreation reserve.
