The two ‘stop me in the street’ topics at the moment will be of no surprise to anyone I’m sure. They’re the Martinborough Town Hall and are we amalgamating with Masterton/Wellington?
I’ll deal with the easy one first. Council has resolved to strengthen the existing town hall to meet modern building code requirements rather than build a new building.
The reason is simple. It is what we can afford as a district. Council is budgeting for the strengthening work in the current Long Term Plan process and the community will be asked to contribute to refurbishing just as they were with the Greytown Town Centre. Amalgamation is much less straight forward.
The government is calling for reform of local government and this process is due to start in May. The Wairarapa councils have already commissioned a study looking at governance and service delivery options for Wairarapa.
This study may not give us all the answers but will give us a sound basis for discussion with our residents and ratepayers about what is best for us. It would be naive to think that we will come through these proposed reforms unchanged but I promise to fight tooth and nail for our right to have a meaningful say in how our communities are run.
Adrienne Staples?
