Te Puna residents are being asked to have a say on the future of its war memorial hall being moved to make way for a roundabout.

New Zealand Transport Agency has awarded a $135,000 design contract to Opus Consultants to upgrade the Te Puna and Minden roads' intersection with State Highway 2.

Te Puna Memorial Hall committee member Rosaleen Holmes, outside the hall on State Highway 2. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

A roundabout has been determined as the best solution to improve the safety of the busy intersection, with work scheduled to begin in 2015.

As a result Western Bay of Plenty District Council is holding an open day at the hall on July 31 from midday to 7.30pm for the community to express their views.

Council knows the hall is of significant historic and social value to the Te Puna community and wants direction from residents, community organisations, local businesses and other interested parties as to the future location and what type of community facility people envisage the future hall to be.

'The Memorial Hall has been a part of the fabric of the community for 90 years. We recognise its importance and we are aware that people have very firm ideas about what happens to it,” says Mayor Ross Paterson.

'The community needs to decide where a suitable new location may be, whether they want the existing hall to be relocated, or a new facility to be built. If so, what should that new facility offer in terms of community activities and peoples' needs.”

Ross says this is a once in 50 year chance to get something really special for Te Puna and council want residents to take this opportunity and have their say about the hall.

The Council owns the 2000m2 of land on which the hall is located and the hall building, 370m2, is owned by the community.

NZTA is acquiring the land under the Public Works Act so negotiations are under way between council and the agency relating to the value of the land and hall and costs for relocation and land purchase.

Te Puna Heartlands spokesperson Jo Gravit says the community agrees it is not an option for the hall to remain on the current site and welcomes the opportunity for the community to have a say on the future of the hall.

'We commend council for recognising the importance of this issue to Te Puna residents and the many regular user groups who use the Hall. We also commend the council project team for encouraging feedback through the survey being sent to residents in the area of benefit,” says Jo.

Hall treasurer Rosaleen Holmes says there is no doubt that the roundabout is needed but she hopes the history and significance of the existing hall is not lost during the change.

'I hope we can all come through this knowing that the sacrifice made by those Te Puna men who served in the First World War and the community's huge effort in building the hall is not lost,” says Rosaleen.

'I believe the hall should stay near the heart of Te Puna close to the Minden area – that was where it was put and that is where it should stay.''

The hall averages 14 bookings a week catering for a range of activities such as ballroom dancing, keep fit classes, post natal programmes, indoor bowls, church meetings, Zumba classes, gardening and many private functions.

Three main issues are at the centre of the community's concerns.

Firstly, the building of a safe intersection that provides easy connectivity between the Minden, the current commercial area and the Te Puna peninsula area.

Secondly, to provide adequate funding for a centrally located community centre, either a relocated or a new like-for-like building, that offers a range of activities that will serve the community for the next 50 years.

Thirdly, that the cultural and heritage values associated with the history of the Hall are incorporated in future decisions.

The hall land was gifted by the Armstrong family as a memorial to those local men who served in the First World War and the Hall was built in 1923 by voluntary community labour. One of every three Te Puna men who served in the Great War never returned home.