Work on the clock started on Monday. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Cambridge Chamber of Commerce members are among those questioning the decision to repair the town’s clock while the district awaits a major rate increase.
A tongue in cheek post from the Chamber – which asked how many people it took to change a clock alongside a picture of more than a dozen people by the clock – prompted debate late Thursday.
Waipā District Council, to its credit, chimed in with a positive response.
“We’re pulling out all the stops to get the clock restored. We’ve brought together all of our project members for the pre-start meeting this morning, including the contractor, architect, engineers and our own project leader and health and safety team members,” the response said.
“This is a complex job with a lot of moving parts, what better way to get the clock started again than to meet on site before we get on with repairs.”
Antanas Procuta
Cambridge architect Antanas Procuta also had a hand in the discussion.
“I’m very excited to see the clock and tower restored; it’s a wonderful iconic Cambridge landmark, and I hope the restoration sees the tower through the next 85-odd years (the approx time since it was built). I’d like to think that there is a fixed-cost contract in place, and it’s up to the contractors to make (and demonstrate) efficient use of their resource, or not,” he wrote.
The 115-year-old clock’s repair and exterior work is expected to tick off about $450,000 in costs. When the job was approved it was announced it would take three months and work would start in November.
The response to the council on-line post was not all positive.
Chamber member David Natzke suggested everything the Waipā District Council did was complex.
Susan O’Regan
Small business owner Colleen Bryant wrote “…it looks like you are pulling out all stops Waipā District Council – and not in a timely manner either”.
“As a chamber member and a rate payer I have been totally stunned at the direction our elected Waipā District Council has taken. Leaves me wondering if they have considered reassessing internal expenditure, rather than reducing services out in the community as they did in 2023 and what will 2024 hold.”
When the job was announced Waipā mayor Susan O’Regan said the cost was hard to swallow but councillors recognised the importance of the clock to Cambridge and the wider district.
See: Cambridge Town Clock silenced for now.
See: Cambridge clock in line for major overhaul
See: Life post clock-down
See: Town Hall will see the light 
Jeff Masters after getting Cambridge’s clock running again in 2020. Photo: Jeremy Smith.
