North Canterbury News: April 14, 2022
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NEWS<br />
4 The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>April</strong> <strong>14</strong>, <strong>2022</strong><br />
Notice given to sell Cust Plunket Rooms<br />
By ROBYN BRISTOW<br />
Aproposal to sell the Cust Plunket<br />
Roomsbythe national body, Whanau<br />
Awhina Plunket,iscausing angstin<br />
the small <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong><br />
settlement.<br />
Many are angry that abuilding<br />
fundraised for by local people, and<br />
builtbydads on Saturdays, supervised<br />
by alocal builder, couldnow be lost to<br />
the community.<br />
Whanau AwhinaPlunket has<br />
advertised itsintentiontosell the<br />
propertyat1685 CustRoad.<br />
It has given aMay 1deadline for<br />
anyone to submitonthe proposal.<br />
Many are upset at theshort deadline<br />
for submissions, with Easter and<br />
School holidays in the middle,<br />
detracting frompeople beingable to<br />
find the time to submit.<br />
They fearwith no organised<br />
oppositiontothe proposed sale, it will<br />
be afait de accompli.<br />
RobinKingsbury, in aFacebook<br />
post,says the Plunket rooms exist due<br />
to theefforts of the Custcommunity,<br />
with the landbeing transferred to the<br />
Plunket Society from the local council<br />
in 1957.<br />
AliceJones says she is very<br />
disappointedasitisacommunity<br />
building, and from her days at Plunket<br />
thought things had been resolved, and<br />
it would not ever be sold, when<br />
Plunket took overthe building.<br />
TracyNewellsays it is ‘‘incredibly<br />
sad’’the amenity could be lost to the<br />
community.<br />
‘‘We have all done so much overthe<br />
yearstokeep our local plunket rooms<br />
running smoothly.<br />
‘‘A lot of the land and buildings were<br />
donated by old districtfamilies,’’ says<br />
Tracywho warns similarishappening<br />
to Scout Dens.<br />
Notice to sell ... The Cust Plunket Rooms could be sold under aproposal from Whanau<br />
Awhina Plunket.<br />
PHOTO: SUPPLIED<br />
‘‘It’sjust so so wrong. Shame on you<br />
NZ Plunket Society,’’ Tracy says.<br />
Some community members,<br />
responding to the news saidthey<br />
believed the communitycould utilise<br />
the valuable asset, and called on the<br />
community to worktogether to ensure<br />
that a‘‘building built and used by the<br />
Cust community stays within our<br />
community’’.<br />
WhanauAwhina Plunketsays a<br />
small number of Plunketservices<br />
operate from the site, and if the<br />
proposal proceeds, they would be<br />
located to nearbypremises and ‘‘will<br />
otherwise not be affected’’.<br />
General Manager of Finance,<br />
Technologyand Commercial, Matthew<br />
Kenny saysthe property title doesnot<br />
show any ownershipprior to 1957.<br />
‘‘Itshowsthat the Royal NZ Society<br />
for the HealthofWomen and Children<br />
Rangiora Branch Inc. wasthe first<br />
‘owner’.<br />
‘‘Weare keentohear from anyone<br />
who knows more about the history of<br />
the property,” he says.<br />
Mr Kennyurges anyone with an<br />
interest in the property,orwho wants<br />
to provide feedback,tocontact<br />
Whānau Āwhina Plunket at<br />
SustainableProperty@plunket.org.nz<br />
or posttoPOBox 5474,Wellington<br />
6<strong>14</strong>0(Attention: Property)byMay 1.<br />
The Notice of Intentiontosell the<br />
propertyfollows ownershipissues in<br />
Waiau, Waikariand Culverden<br />
communities for their involvement.<br />
These were recently resolvedafter a<br />
communitybattle which bubbled away<br />
for almost six years. The ownershipof<br />
two of the properties are now to be<br />
transferred to communitycustodians,<br />
and the thirdisplanned to be released<br />
from Whanau Awhina Plunket’s<br />
propertyportfolio.<br />
Waiauservices are moving to Amuri<br />
CommunityHealth Centre, Waikari<br />
services are movingtothe Waikari<br />
Health Centre, and Culverden<br />
services are staying in the same<br />
building.<br />
Thereisalso growing concern in the<br />
area at the cutting of the Parenting<br />
Education Programme(PEP) due to<br />
lack of funding.<br />
Tracysays she feels extremely sorry<br />
for new mums after Plunket<br />
announced its planstoditch PEP.<br />
‘‘I got so much from the PEP<br />
programme, and met othernew mums<br />
with kids about the sameage as mine,<br />
making me realise how wellwewere<br />
doing,’’ saysAlice.<br />
Plunket says the decision to axe the<br />
PEP programme follows amonthlong<br />
staffconsultation. Five permanent<br />
staffand 17 casual roles will go, and a<br />
further 16 peoplewillhave theirhours<br />
reduced.<br />
ChiefExecutiveAmanda Malusays<br />
this is adifficult time for the staff<br />
affected by the decision.<br />
‘‘This is asad day for Plunket. We<br />
are proudofour staff and the work<br />
they have done for whānau and<br />
communities,and we know this<br />
programmewill be missed.’’<br />
Ms Malu said the charitycan no<br />
longer affordtorun the PEPE<br />
programmeatadeficitof$400,000 per<br />
annum. ‘‘Like any charity thatrelies<br />
on donationsand grants, we have<br />
limited resources. We are havingto<br />
make thistough decision now to<br />
ensure that we remain financially<br />
resilient for the years ahead.’’<br />
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