Waimea Weekly
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Your Community Newspaper
Wednesday 4 December 2013
Santa Claus is coming to town Page 6
Waimea Village has sold! “Thank God it’s over”. That was the catch cry from residents of Waimea Village on Saturday night as they celebrated buying the village from Michael and Carolyn Wright. The Wright’s eight year tenure as owners and managers of the village ended on Friday and residents were keen to blow off steam and celebrate the end of the gruelling three year dispute. The battle stemmed from annual increases to the monthly levy residents paid, which started from $80 a month at the end of 2010 to a proposed $350 this year. Residents were furious with the massive increases, which they had to pay on top of rates and other normal bills. The residents had other issues as well. They had paid almost $400,000 in a repair and replacement fund that was controlled by the Wrights. The residents felt the money wasn’t there and went to court to try to protect the fund. But all that is behind them now, including this year’s proposed in-
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Beach volleyball action Page 33
Andrew Board Editor
andrew@nelsonweekly.co.nz
crease to $350 which is already dead in the water. Those 148 of the 172 home owners in the village who bought a share have already seen their levy payments drop to $135 a month and it is expected to drop even further in six months’ time when the costs are reviewed. The remaining lease owners are still paying the same price, $172.50. The village is now managed by a five person board, all elected by the residents and headed by Network Tasman chairman, Trevor Tuffnell. The board is comprised of three outsiders and two people who live in the village. It has contracted out the management services, which Kit Maling – the former councillor who stitched the deal to buy the village together – has secured for a year. SEE PAGE 2
Karen Howieson, Jeff Grimmett and Susan Murray-Rifici with Molly, a Nelson Ark dog, at the charitable trust’s five year birthday celebrations on Sunday. Photo: Phillip Rollo.
Local dog charity turns 5 Bringing up five years is a “major milestone” for the Nelson Ark, and co-founding trustee Karen Howieson says the future is exciting. “It means a lot. We started out in 2002 with no premises and no funding and it took us until 2008 to get significant funding and find a premises,” she says.
The Nelson Ark rescues unwanted dogs and pairs them with young people who are perhaps losing their way, transforming the lives of both the young people and the rescued dogs, and Karen says by hitting the five year milestone that it showed the Nelson Ark “had survived”. “A lot of charitable
trusts don’t make it but we’ve got community support, we’ve got funders and we’ve got wonderful volunteers and a team that makes things happen.” Looking forward, Karen says it would be ideal to have their own premises, having been currently operating out of Stonehurst Farm in Hope.
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