The
AUGUST 2015
CLASSIFIEDS & COMMUNITY CONTACTS Page 26/27
Produced for the community, by the community
From our Mayor David Ayers
How much does the community value this building as part of Woodend’s history? Woodend doesn’t have many heritage buildings, although there others in the wider Woodpecker circulation area, such as in Waikuku. There are four in Woodend: the Anglican and Methodist churches, and two houses, Mairangi in Parsonage Road and Orchard House on the Main North Road.
It’s not many, especially when you think of all the heritage that we have lost in Canterbury, or is still under threat, since the earthquakes of 2010-11. Waimakariri has lost a number of buildings, including at least nine in Kaiapoi, two in Rangiora and one in Flaxton. I know of one more under threat in Rangiora. There are a few good-news stories too. One of the Kaiapoi houses has been relocated to North Loburn, the façade of the former Junction Hotel in Rangiora has been saved and has a new owner, and the former BNZ building in Kaiapoi is currently being straightened and restored. There are also other heritage buildings that have been strengthened, including the Rangiora Town Hall.
An obvious earthquake casualty in Woodend has been the Methodist Church on the Main North Road. An archetypal Methodist chapel built in 1911, it has been closed and fencedoff since the September quake. The
congregation, small but growing, has been using the hall next door.
The Rangiora-Woodend Methodist Parish has been hoping to restore the building but also make it more flexible to make it usable for community use. Unfortunately, repairs and strengthening alone are going to cost about $1.3m and the parish has a shortfall of $485,000.
A fundamental question is how much does the community value this building as part of Woodend’s history? Is it realistic to try and raise that amount of money? Those are hard questions that will have to be answered over the current weeks. [Interest statement: I am a member of the Methodist Parish.]
Woodend Community Association Update - Pg 9
History with Harry - Pg 16