Kurow residents are being urged to stand up and be counted in order to allay fears they could be about to lose control of how the town's community hall is run.
The Kurow Memorial Hall committee's annual meeting takes place on October 7, but committee chairwoman Chrissy Watherston said at least two committee members, including herself, would stand down and replacements must be found at the meeting to maintain local input into management of the hall.
Miss Watherston said the existing six-member committee believed that because the hall was owned by the Waitaki District Council, if a full committee was not elected the council would take over the hall management.
Although owned by the council, the hall is managed by the committee and funded from a special local hall rate covering properties in Kurow and Hakataramea.
She said the hall was a ''great asset for the community'', and she urged residents to attend the annual meeting to ensure local input was retained.
Treasurer Thea McTeigue said some committee members were determined to keep the hall under local control, even if a full committee could not be established.
''Another alternative is that we just have a small executive and then we come under the umbrella of the Waitaki Valley Community Society for all the finances and things. Under their umbrella, we have got a better standing for applying for grants and things like that.
''We have spent quite a bit of money in this last financial year on upgrading it. We have painted it and it has new curtains, so it's looking pretty good.
''It's a great asset; it's just we need the community behind it so it keeps going and it keeps viable and we don't have to keep going to trusts and grants all the time.
''We are determined that it won't go back to the council. It's too good an asset to have under council control.''
Council corporate services group manager Carolyn Carter said the council had recently started a review of all 29 council-owned community halls.
Management issues would form part of a further stage of the review, Mrs Carter said.
''Our first stage is looking at it from an assets point of view, and then the next stage will be assessing which ones we need to look at a little more in depth, and we do know that there are some halls where they are finding it very difficult to find people to look after them.
''At this point in time, it's a property management exercise so we will be assessing how much use they get, whether they have fire compliance and if there are any issues with maintenance or earthquake proofing.''
