Milestone reached for the Hororātā community hub

Go Hororātā, a community collective made up of 8 community groups, has been working together since 2017 on the development of a new community facility that will provide for future generations. Recently, Selwyn District Council and the Hororātā Community Trust have signed a Memorandum of Understanding around the creation of a community hub in the township. 

Go Hororātā Chair, Craig Blackburn commented "There are a lot of people in the community who have worked hard to find a way forward for a facility in Hororātā. $50,000 of community money and a huge amount of volunteer hours have been invested to get to this point. All the way the community has been part of this project, we are lucky to have an entity, the Hororātā Community Trust, that can provide the vehicle for the community hub to be set up under.

The next step for Go Hororātā is to now work together to develop concept plans for the community hub, there is still a lot of work to be done."

The MOU confirms the Council will transfer the Hororātā Community Hall and surrounding endowment land to the Trust, along with a grant of $1 million to support building the new community hub.

Hororātā Community Trust Trustee Richard Lang said it was an important day for the community, "The Hororātā Community Trust and the Go Hororātā Committee are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Council and to be moving forward with this project. We are looking forward to working as part of Go Hororātā to develop a vibrant community hub which will feature the heritage of our area and celebrate our many stories."

"This project has been a long time coming. One of the Trust's key objectives, when it formed in 2011, was to help the community rebuild its facilities following the earthquakes. It is fantastic to now have a pathway for this." 

The MOU underlines that the Council and the Trust will work together and are committed to an ongoing partnership in relation to achieving positive outcomes for the Hororātā community. The MOU commits to the building of the new hub to begin within the next four years.

The Council has been working with the Hororātā community and with the Trust for a number of years with a view to building a new community facility for the township, and the MOU is an important stage in that process, Council Chief Executive David Ward says.

“The Council is excited to have this agreement in place and confirm its support for the Trust to get the community facility built. A lot of hard work has gone into this from all sides to ensure Hororātā receives a facility that meets its needs now and into the future, and this is a positive step towards seeing that completed.”

Craig Blackburn has been part of the negotiations with the Council, he acknowledges the work everyone has put into getting the MOU across the line, especially law firm, Duncan Cotterill. "We would like to thank Duncan Cotterill who drafted the MOU and helped negotiate with Council. With this MOU Duncan Cotterill has gone above and beyond for the community and it is truly appreciated."

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