Riverside conference centre - Council to pay $3 million
RNZ News reports today:-
Plans to build an 850-seat riverside conference and events centre in Whangārei have been revived.
Last year councillors voted not to help pay for the Ōruku Landing project, originally pitched by private developers.
The government had committed $59 million in funding.
The designs have since been scaled back, and today the council agreed to give $3m for footpaths, stormwater and traffic upgrades - far less than the $70 million needed for the former version last year.
The Prosper Northland Charitable Trust said the centre would spur $40m in visitor spending in the first five years.
It had taken over the conference centre project, and would own the finished product.
The trust's revised design provided to council had 850 seats and a 40 percent smaller floor area. Theatre capacity was removed and the building height was reduced.
Trustee Ian Reeves told RNZ the centre was also still expected to stimulate other builds nearby, including a 4-star hotel "which is very necessary - and has been acknowledged for years and years as necessary - and also further apartment developments".
More than 5000 people submitted their views on the proposals last year - nearly 80 per cent were against the old proposals.
When the council rejected the project, Whangārei MP Emily Henderson said she was "very disappointed".
Northlander and former deputy Prime MInister Winston Peters told RNZ the city was looking "a gift horse in the mouth".
Government funding of $59m for the build was about to go back into the Crown Infrastructure Partners' pool, but Ōruku campaigners asked for the money to stay ringfenced while they revised the plans. They have now retained the allocation.
Councillor Vince Cocurullo complimented their stickability today.
"They have kept it alive, they have kept the communications going," he said.
"We all thought the project was completely dead. We thought the government had turned around and said 'right this council, the Whangārei District Council doesn't want it, therefore it's not going to happen'."
But the councillors' vote was not unanimous.
Tricia Cutforth chose to abstain, and Simon Reid (Ngāpuhi) was against, and said it was unfair for some building projects to have infrastructure costs cut, and others not.
"Our ratepayers have clearly told me - well the ones that have contacted me - that they have not had any help in a development."
Poll: Have you ever been bullied?
People associate bullying with children in schools, but it can actually stretch beyond childhood to workplaces or neighbourhoods.
This Friday is Pink Shirt Day, which began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new student was harassed for wearing pink. People across the globe are now encouraged to wear pink on this day to take a stand against bullying and promote inclusivity.
Have you or your whānau ever experienced bullying? Share your thoughts on Pink Shirt Day below.
Type 'Not For Print' if you wish your comments to be excluded from the Conversations column of your local paper.
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80% Yes
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19.6% No
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0.4% Other - I'll share below
Whangarei Film Society - screenings for Thursday May 23rd
Good People
On Thursday, the 23rd May at 6pm, WFS will be screening the doco on the NZ modernist artist, Frances Hodgkins in Anything But A Still Life.
Our 8pm screening will be the Oscar winning film (Best International Picture), Riceboy Sleeps.
FRANCES HODGKINS: ANYTHING BUT A STILL LIFE
NZ, 2023, Documentary, 90 mins
This documentary explores the life and art of celebrated New Zealand painter, Frances Hodgkins.
From her time in art school in London in the early 1900s, when one of her paintings became the first work by a New Zealander to be hung at the Royal Academy of Arts, to her time in Paris where she taught at Colarossi's academy as the first woman instructor.
It was during her time in France that Hodgkins was influenced by the styles of Matisse and Derain but quickly developed her own highly personal style, which embraced modernist hallmarks.
Over the decades, Hodgkins work became highly respected, as she worked alongside artists including Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Henry Moore.
At the peak of her career, before returning to NZ, Hodgkins was considered a key figure in British Modernism and a role model for women artists everywhere.
Showing at Forum North, 7 Rust Ave Whangarei on Thursday 23rd May at 6pm and TUESDAY (not Thursday) 28th May at 8pm.
Tickets: Door sales only. $10 WFS members. $15 Non members.
View the trailer at: www.youtube.com...
Tickets: Door sales only. Price: $10 for WFS members, $15 for non members.
Cash only please - no Eftpos/credit card services available.
Visit whangareifilmsociety.org and sign up for our free weekly email for information on the rest of our films and screening dates for 2024.
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