Stalling in Sanson

A pall of uncertainty hangs over Sanson's Sunday market.

It's held in the old Sanson pub car park, and site owner Manawatu District Council has plans to spend $2.6 million redeveloping the site as the region's visitor gateway.

What happens next is foggy because it depends on financial and political decisions not yet made. Reporter LEE MATTHEWS checks out the stalls.

Let us be clear at the outset: Manawatu District Council does not have a plan to shut down the Sanson Sunday Market.

But it also doesn't have a specifically stated policy to protect it, and that uncertainty is worrying the market's committee and stall holders.

The council is proposing to spend $2.6 million redeveloping the pub site as Manawatu's visitor gateway. Whatever's decided will affect the market, and Sanson's marketeers are twittering with the anxiety that's caused by lack of surety.

The problem is that the council can't yet say what will happen. Political and economic decisions must follow due process, and won't be made until later in the year.

The council bought the Sanson hotel in 2008, and the market, which has run in the hotel car park for at least 15 years, came with the deal.

The market leases its site from the council. The lease says that there's potential for development of the property, which might go on for 18 months. Expressly understood is that if development goes ahead, past arrangements will require amendments.

Ask around in Sanson, and just about everyone says the market's a good thing. It's a visitor magnet; people come from all over the lower North Island to buy and sell. And its proceeds are ploughed back into Sanson.

Stallholders pay $15 for a site. That money goes to the market committee, which is registered with the Charities Commission as a not-for-profit organisation.

On average, a good-weather week will see about 50 sites in use, generating $750. Stall numbers go down when weather is bad, however. The council takes 20 per cent of that as rent, and a recent new lease clause is that the market also pays one-seventh of the site's power bill.

What's left over goes into Sanson community projects, says Sanson council community committee secretary and market committee member Del Parker.

"Things that the rates don't cover. We support our community pool. When our playcentre needed a new roof, the market gave $2000 towards it. The Bulls fire brigade is about to put smoke alarms in every house in Sanson, and the market money is buying the alarms," Mrs Parker says. "We have an application process; the key thing is that the money is spent for the benefit of Sanson."

The council bought the pub because of its site, bang slap on one of the busiest intersections in the lower North Island, where State Highway 1 linking Auckland and Wellington meets State Highway 3, the main northern route to Palmerston North. The reasoning was that the site could potentially host a commercial development to trap tourists and send visitors exploring New Zealand's best-kept secret – Manawatu.

Council community services group manager Brent Limmer says the council's proposal to spend $2.6 million on the work is only pencilled into this year's draft annual plan. A lot of process has to happen before anyone writes a cheque.

Councillors will decide about that spending using the community's views, economic feasibility and what's best for the district long term. Annual plan submissions close on May 9, the deadline for people to say what they want. Those opinions are heard and discussed by the council from May 23-25.

Councillors also have to balance the Sanson spend against all the other good ideas in the draft annual plan. If they choose to do everything in the plan, Manawatu District's total rates take will go up 6.6 per cent this year. Things will be cut, however: Mayor Ian McKelvie has already told his councillors that this year's rates rise must be kept under 3 per cent.

If the Sanson project does go ahead, councillors then have to decide what to put there. Initially, ideas included an i-site visitor information office, a cafe, and other shops. Mr Limmer says whatever goes in has to return rent. The draft annual plan states that the project will only proceed if the business model proves to be viable.

Sanson's council community committee was keen to see the Sanson branch library moved into the building, but Mr Limmer says that's unlikely to happen as the library – a council-funded service run by volunteers – can't pay rent. No financial return means it's not viable to give the library the space.

Mrs Parker would like to see an ATM money machine in any redevelopment – Sanson residents have to go to Feilding or Bulls to bank – and a postal agency, because of the site's central location. Sanson's postal agency is at the extreme northern end of the village; a long haul for some elderly residents.

"I can still walk it, but it gets tricky with the state highway traffic if you're trying to turn a vehicle round there," says Mrs Parker. "We're grateful to still have it."

Mr Limmer says suggestions like these depend on economic viability, and it is too soon to say what will happen. Councillors may decide to develop it. They may decide to just wait until the economy improves. They may also decide to sell the whole thing and walk away from the idea – and this last possibility really worries the Sanson marketeers. Where would they go then?

Mr Limmer says if the site is sold, there are other places the market can go.

"Look, I don't want to start hares running on this one, that would be away down the track. No decisions have been made."

The council owns the Sanson Domain, down a driveway off State Highway 1. It's a logical alternative site, as are privately owned sites in the village.

Back at the pub, the council's had architects' advice that parts of the 1978-built building are in poor condition, and the most economic action is to demolish it, and purpose-build what's wanted. It has big old chillers that need to be removed, and there are ceiling and floor problems.

Meanwhile, the council has spent money in the building, getting new 24-hour public toilets on its south side. And the kitchen has been upgraded by the market committee, using stall rent money. It had to be done to meet food safety regulations, because marketeers use the kitchen on Sundays to prepare food for sale.

The hotel's liquor licence has lapsed and Mr Limmer says the council won't renew it. It will be up to a tenant to apply for a licence in future, should the redevelopment proceed.

"There are a lot of decisions that still have to be made, before we can say what might happen here," Mr Limmer says. "I do want to say that the market is a community asset for Sanson. The money the market generates is great for the community, and the market's a good visitor magnet."

- © Fairfax NZ News