Fire-safety rules put kibosh on Scout den sleepovers

Sleepovers at the Allenby Ave Scout den are off limits, due to strict fire-safety rules.

Gatherings of more than 50 people are also no longer allowed, Auckland Council has told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board, which leases the heritage hall on reserve land to the 1st Devonport Scouts Group.

Scout group leader Cliff Brown said sleepovers were “an absolutely fundamental way in how we operate”.

They gave Keas and Cubs a first taste of camping, with tents set up overnight, either in the den or, in fine weather, outside the den, but using its kitchen facilities.

This occurred several times a year for each group, involving up to 20 people.

The hall also played host to visiting Venturers, aged 14 to 18, heading on to stay at a bach the group owned and hired out on Rangitoto. Typically, visitors overnighted in Devonport before catching a ferry to the island the next morning. “Stuff like that we can’t do now,” Brown said.

Auckland Council first flagged concerns last year, saying the hall “probably” should not be used for such gatherings, given tougher new regulations.

Then in April, the Scouts were notified to halt the sleepovers.

While he thought the restriction on numbers was reasonable, Brown said the much tougher fire-safety expectations were problematic in an old building.

He said the group took safety seriously. The building had been subject to a series of assessments for its structural and heritage condition and for fire regulations.

It seemed regulations now required rooms used for sleeping to be treated as a “fire cell”, separated from other rooms by fire doors.

This was problematic with a kitchen opening onto the hall, with little space for a fire door.

Other requirements were for electronic alarms linked to the Fire Service and illuminated signs on doors. An exit with a step was also apparently against the rules, Brown said, something hard to avoid in a heritage building.

The clampdown comes after the hall’s wiring was upgraded last year, which the Scouts lobbied council to do. “On one hand the council says we have to fix things, but on the other it has already spent a boatload on the den.”

The council’s northern operations manager, Sarah Jones, briefly flagged the as-yet-uncosted budget implications of bringing the hall up to fire standard, during discussions at a workshop with board members about its 2023-24 work programme. This will be finalised at the board’s monthly meeting next week.

At a board meeting several months ago, Jones said future upgrades at the den were well down the list of priorities, given it had had money spent on it last year.

Landscape Design in Devonport

Whether you are planning a garden refresh or a full renovation, let us work with you to define your vision so that you can proceed with a plan. We can also help with construction.

Call Steve on 021 345 694 steve@naturalgardens.co.nz www.naturalgardens.co.nz