Alexander (Sandy) Milne

Last Sunday afternoon, I spent a short while at the Whakatāne War Memorial Hall watching two events.  

While there, I took the opportunity to stroll around and check on the condition of, (in the words of Whakatāne District Council’s general manager community experience), one of the district’s “most valued and well-used community facilities”.

First up, was a free concert at The Little Theatre with the Whakatāne Brass Band rehearsing for the 2025 National Championships in Christchurch this Friday.  

My companion was a former member of our brass band and better qualified than myself to comment on the performance.  

Her words were, “Top performance, especially by the full band”.  

We were seated only two metres from the steps to the stage, which I noted were decidedly scruffy and badly in need of simple basic maintenance.  

Perhaps the members of the Men’s Shed could do the council’s job as a community service?

A short while later, I was passing the hall’s reception lounge and popped in to see a row of dart boards on the south wall. Lots of kiddies were running around in a safe area and having a great time. It was a jolly event, and I received a friendly welcome from several kaumatua.

I glanced at the ceiling and was surprised to see the same large water stain above the players as was commented on as poor maintenance at a meeting there in late 2024. I could fix that in five minutes with paint and a roller.  

I was left wondering if these clearly visible instances of neglect were part of a plan to have the public believe that the 50-year-old hall was past its use-by date, and that a $100 million ratepayer-funded replacement was overdue.

Nah. Let’s just call it poor maintenance. Is other council property managed thus?