Left to rot

Levin has more than its fair share of abandoned buildings, and locals are getting a little tired of seeing large portions of land stand empty and forgotten, gathering graffiti and turning into eyesores. EMMA GOODWIN investigates what has become of one of them.

At one time it was a place where vandals and fledgling criminals were sent to learn the error of their ways, but now the buildings that once made up Kohitere Training School have been on the receiving end of some pretty harsh treatment themselves.

Social Welfare abandoned the 50-year-old youth rehabilitation centre in 1989, and after years of standing empty, there's not much left of the old boys' home other than a few derelict buildings and some memories.

But people are starting to ask questions about what is going to happen to the 54 hectares of land and remaining buildings as they slowly rot away and are subjected to vandalism.

The land had been offered back to the family of Kawana Hunia in 1996 but that process stalled because of conflicting iwi claims.

Descendants of Meiha Te Rangihiwinui, known as Major Kemp, said they wanted proof that the land belonged to Mr Hunia and would oppose any sale until the issue was resolved.

Mr Hunia and Major Kemp were joint trustees of the Horowhenua Block in the 19th century.

Horowhenua mayor Brendan Duffy wants to see some resolution over long-standing confusion as to who is responsible for the site and what is going to happen to it.

"I'm struggling to understand who's administering it and what the plans are for it," says Mr Duffy.

The site is being managed by the Department of Conservation and a large portion of the land is being used for processing and storing firewood.

John Matangi, owner of JB's Environmental, has been leasing a portion of the site from DOC for the last four years.

Mountains of cut wood are stored in the old gymnasium, workshop and swimming-pool buildings and around the area.

"When I arrived, the site was being used as some sort of recycling dump. There were car bodies, old washing machines and stuff like that strewn around. I spent about $11,000 clearing it up. The place was pretty much wrecked at that stage."

Anything that had been of any value had been removed or stripped from the buildings.

In one of the buildings that Matangi says is the old marae, floorboards have been ripped up and smashed. "Probably to look for copper piping," he says.

The timber merchant says that he has been plagued with people stealing from him.

"I've had loads of stuff pinched, but it's better now that they know I don't put up with it."

He can remember the property when it was the boys home because his aunt worked in the kitchen. "We used to come up here on Sunday and have lunch. I was about seven at the time."

The place where the kitchen once stood is now bare, with no evidence that any cooking facility once existed.

Mr Matangi's own house was bought from the site and relocated further down the road.

Two buildings at the front of the site are occupied by people who say they have been given permission by DOC to live there.

"I'm just one of 600 people who have an interest in this land," said one woman, who did not want to be named. "I've been here for years."

Ian Cooksley, DOC's Kapiti area manager at Waikanae and public spokesperson on the property, said in an email to The Manawatu Standard that the department has been the residual land manager for the property since it was declared surplus from the former Department of Social Welfare, in the early 1990s, and Land Information New Zealand also owns part of the site.

The land was made ready for disposal in the mid-1990s, but under a directive from the former Minister of Social Welfare, it first had to be offered back to original Maori owners at full market value.

A revesting order was lodged with the Maori Land Court but as the parties were unable to agree on a price for the property, the order was withdrawn in June 2006.

Mr Cooksley said that DOC is processing the property for disposal according to Crown property procedures and that the iwi of the area have been advised of the proposed disposal.

It will be up to the Government to decide whether to retain the land for future Treaty settlement or clear it to be sold.

Mr Duffy says the situation needs to be sorted quickly.

"I have no issue with iwi claims. I just want to know where they're at with it and if there is a way to expedite that.

"It worries me about the process and time line."

Mr Cooksley states that it could take up to a further nine months for the property to go through the process of disposal.

In the meantime, Mr Duffy is concerned that the Government is showing a habit of walking away from the Levin community.

"I feel as though central government has walked away from Kohitere, Kimberley Hospital and Horowhenua Hospital. My worry is that we could in 25 years time have the same issues with Kimberley and Horowhenua that we now have with Kohitere."

- © Fairfax NZ News