Raetihi still wants amalgamation

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 28, 3 December 1985, Page 3

Raetihi still wants amalgamation

Raetihi Borough councillors reiterated their desire to proceed with the formation of the Waimarino District council without delay at iast Wednesday's meeting. They agreed to take up the invitation of Ohakune Borough council to attend another steering committee meeting, which was held last night after today's Bulletin had gone to press. Cr Andrew Cornwall said he was dismayed at the disagreement among the councils on the two issues of representation and the cost of administration. He said it was a great shame that the Waimarino

County had linked the two issues, which should have been quite separate. As information had been presented at meetings without prior distribution, the steering committee had met without the chance of giving thought to it or to alternatives, which was why rash comments were made, said Cr Cornwall. Mayor Workman said that as the borough now had more time they should look at the other options open to them and continue to work towards amalgamation. ★ ★ ★ Raetihi Borough Council gave approval for the Raetihi Pool Enclosure Com-

mittee to go ahead with plans for the enclosure of the Raetihi Pool at last Wednesday's council meeting. The council, however, specified that ratepayers' money will not be committed to the project and if the fund-raising is unsuccessful, money raised will be transferred to a trust account operated by the mayor, president of the swimming club and a justice of the peace. President of the Pool Enclosure Committee, Lance Langdon, said he was 'delighted' at the council's approval. He will be calling a committee meeting to decide when and how to begin the fund-raising, but he believes they will probably start at the end of January. The committee, which Mr Langdon says is very enthusiastic, needs to raise $120,000 for the enclosure. Raetihi Mayor, Garrick Workman, said at the borough meeting that a covered pool would be a marvellous amenity for the Waimarino. "The committee are to be congratulated for attempting to get the baths enclosure under way," he said. The pool would be heated by existing solar panels to begin with and would provide for swimming for many months of the year, rather than only two months, as at present. ★ ★ ★

Tony Ellis, from the Probation Service in Taihape, spoke to the meeting about some of the implications of the new justice act for rural areas and suggested that a resource centre should be set up in this region. He believes that people living in rural areas, such a§ the Waimarino, are disadvantaged now because, although under the new act offenders are entitled to periodic detention instead of paying a fine, the closest periodic detention work centre is in Wanganui. One answer would be to set up a community care group in the area which would attempt to keep the offenders in the community rather than putting them in prison. Mr Ellis said that if a centre was set up in Raetihi, it could be a base for the Labour Department and Maori Affairs during the week, while at weekends its role would change to that of a periodic detention centre where offenders would come to work. The centre could also be used for teaching arts, crafts and languages. He stressed that the centre would be what the community wanted. "I'm only in the facilitating role — it would be a community resource," he said. The council approved in principal the setting up of a resource centre in Raetihi.