New Sefton public hall gains support

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

A small North Canterbury community group’s efforts to build a new hall in the local domain has received the backing of its local community board.

The Sefton Public Hall Society plans to build a new community hall at the Sefton Domain, which is expected to cost about $3.3 million.

After obtaining a lease for 900m2 of land at the domain, the society engaged consultancy firm TMCo, which assessed the site, and found the wastewater system had ‘‘failed’’.

‘‘The water from the septic tank was ponding and not draining away,’’ society president Ian Lochhead said.

The council was contacted and portaloos have been placed on the site.

The Woodend-Sefton Community Board met last week and recommended the council’s community and recreation committee approve funding of up to $180,000 to replace the wastewater system.

The news is a relief to the society, as the project’s costs were already escalating, Lochhead said.

The society has already spent nearly $84,000 on preliminary work and initial designs.

Estimated costs have more than doubled over the last few years to $3.3 million due in part to rising material costs.

The proposed new building will include a main hall with a floor area of 304m2, a meeting room and commercial kitchen.

It will also have outdoor sports changing facilities and a toilet, which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to replace the domain sports pavilion.

‘‘It is future proofing our community for 50 years, and maybe longer,’’ Lochhead said.

To date the society has raised about a third of the funds needed through cash and assets, including earthquake insurance, a $200,000 contribution from the council and funds raised from raffles and quiz nights.

The council has also agreed to fund the cost of a resource consent.
The society plans to sell the old Sefton Hall site on Upper Sefton Rd, along with the former Sefton Library site to boost the funds.

It is ready to make a big fundraising push, and will apply for community grants and look for sponsors.

The old Sefton Hall was built in 1966 to replace an earlier hall.

But it was damaged in 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, leaving it at about 37 percent of the building code.

An engineering assessment was completed in 2017, followed by a feasibility study in 2020.

Repairing the hall would require bringing it to 67% of code and cost close to $1 million.

It is still used almost every day by various different community groups, Lochhead said.

‘‘The council has allowed us to use it without doing major works because they know we have a plan for the new build.’’

The domain is used by the Ashley Rugby Club, Sefton Cricket Club, Sefton Tennis Club and various other activities.

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.