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News
Trust pulls out at final hour
Thursday, 12 April 2007
By NIC DALEY
• Howick and Pakuranga Times
THE HISTORIC Star of the Sea building is again in the spotlight, its future once more cast into doubt.
The future of Howick's iconic Star of the Sea building is again unknown. Times photo Wayne Martin.
The
Times
can reveal the Polish Heritage Trust has backed out of a 30 year lease agreement with Manukau City Council, that was all but signed.
The decision was announced to some officials of the Manukau City Council last week; a verbal report confirming the withdrawal was expected at a community development committee meeting last night.
Polish trust chairman and local, John Roy confirmed the trust has withdrawn from any potential agreement.
“We’ve got our premises in Elliot St and we’ve decided to stay there. We’ve decided not to move on to the bigger premises.”
It’s a shock announcement for the city council, which has just completed a $468,000 structural upgrade (including earthquake proofing) of the Granger Rd site.
Stage two constructions and associated resource consents, which would have seen the interior upgraded and turned into a Polish museum, have been put on hold.
The council’s manager of community policy and planning, David Tucker, admits he was surprised by the decision.
“It’s disappointing but these things happen. I thought we were well down the track towards getting the resource consent, and being ready to go on refurbishing stage two.”
Mr Tucker says the council’s senior management will meet next Wednesday to consider the site’s future possibilities.
The funds already spent on upgrading the site were necessary under legislation, no matter what the future use, he adds.
“The building is in a much better condition than it was back in the early days when we were looking for uses before. We’ve done all the structural work and so on.”
The trust indicated its willingness to use the site in early 2005, whereupon the council began the processes of forming a partnership (
Times
, April 19, 2005).
Late last year a 30-year lease agreement was put on the table, but not signed by the trust.
“They weren’t keen to sign anything until the resource consent was through, which I can understand,” Mr Tucker says.
Howick councillor Jami-Lee Ross was also surprised by the decision, but believes the council now needs to continue with the site’s upgrade.
“We have to do something with it. The building has been sitting there idle for around a decade now.
The council and community have invested a lot of time and resources into the building and it’s a real shame this situation has arisen again.”
He’d like to see a commercial and community tenant combination, adding that one of the biggest draw cards of the Polish Heritage Trust’s arrangement was its contribution towards upgrades and ongoing costs.
The trust’s withdrawal is the latest in a list of controversies surrounding the former orphanage and chapel.
Manukau City Council purchased the site in 1997 for more than $1 million.
In 2002, the Star of the Sea Heritage Trust lost its bid to turn the building into a restaurant and convention centre.
The council proceeded to sell but struck opposition to revoking the reserve status and retained the building.