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Mystery knitter page 2
Showing off their acrobatic skills to a large crowd in Wanaka were the Twisty Twins (Jola and Nele Siezen). Full Festival of Colour report and photographs on page 4-5. PHOTO: MALCOLM FRITH
Cranes for Japan page 9
The Bishop speaks Malcolm Frith
Lake adventure page 17
Sunspots: our new way to advertise page 22
The Anglican Bishop of Dunedin has stepped in to give his full backing to the controversial plans to build a new community centre in Wanaka. “The time when the spiritual needs of a community could be met by a pretty little church with an attached hall for the Sunday school and youth group are long gone. St Columba’s Church in Wanaka has recognised this and is seeking to face social realities of the 21st century,” Bishop of Dunedin, the Rt. Reverend Dr Kelvin Wright said. In an open letter sent to the Wanaka Sun, the Bishop makes it clear that
despite the controversy surrounding the plans, he fully supports the building of the new community centre. The row began eighteen months ago when St Columba’s Anglican Church in Wanaka revealed it’s plans to build a mutlipurpose community hall next to the church on McDougall Street. The row developed between the supporters of the scheme and those opposing it. It became public when a member of the church wrote a letter to the Wanaka Sun calling on fellow church members not to be intimidated by
Bishop Dr. Kelvin Wright
people who have such negative opposition to the scheme. This week the Bishop took the unprecedented move to defuse the row by writing an open letter after he was made aware of the controversy by people
from both sides. “I believe that as far as the church-going Anglicans of Wanaka are concerned the discussion is extremely lop-sided. The overwhelming majority of them are in favour of the proposal
to build a community centre. As is the case with any organisation, we Anglicans have agreed procedures to be used in making decisions. In the case of this proposed building project, the idea was mooted within the congregation and discussed informally. Given the interest generated a special meeting was called. The meeting was properly notified and correctly run, and in the final vote 90 percent opted to proceed with the community centre proposal. Given the overwhelming mandate of the special general
meeting, a committee was formed and the long, complex and arduous task of planning, gaining consent and raising the finance has begun. This process is still underway, and I hope it will reach a successful conclusion. I am not convinced that the opposition to the project has a very broad base. St Columba’s Church has more than its fair share of talented and experienced people and they are more than able to bring this project to a successful conclusion. In this I back them”, the Bishop said.