Keep the Rimutaka Summit Cafe alive - sign the petition!

[Number One]

ahhhh.......its great being a male!!

Skite!

I have heard though that the ladies can go for the shee wee and also enjoy the standing go anywhere experience

[Pussy]

Skite!

I have heard though that the ladies can go for the shee wee and also enjoy the standing go anywhere experience

Pix please!

[Number One]

Pix please!

ummm NO definitely not

[sweetp]

I had known for a while that the council was considering this but then read in the paper that they had decided to knock the buildings down. So sent a snarky email away and got this in reply:

The future of the toilets and the tearooms has been an issue of much debate for the Council. Both the tearooms and the toilets rely on each other for utilities on the site (power and water), and to make both operations independent of each other is a very expensive exercise.
Recent history of the tearooms’ operation has shown that an operation of this kind up there is problematic and not economically viable, and a proposal to continue operating the tearooms by the current licensee will not, in the Council’s view, solve those inherent problems. Without the tearoom’s operation we would have a major problem with vandalism of the toilets, hence the decision to close it.
Therefore, the decision to decommission the site was one that was made out of necessity. I acknowledge that there may well be people that would like to retain a toilet or tearooms facility up there and who would use it. However, it would be a very time consuming and costly exercise to do so and it is this Council’s view that those costs do not outweigh the benefits of decommissioning the site.
Yours sincerely ,
Murray Waititi
Manager, Parks
Greater Wellington Regional Council

[The Baron]

Thanks for that sweetp. The fact is that the area will be used as a toilet with or without the building. Is that what they want.

[BALZYBUELL]

oh man thats shit that its going to be knocked down,not much to say really.fuk'rs

[sweetp]

Yeah, and what really sucks as the cafe has new leaseholders and they have invested $50K into upgrading. The council gave them the standard 3 min to have their say at the meeting before deciding to knock it all down.

[Str8 Jacket]

Yeah, and what really sucks as the cafe has new leaseholders and they have invested $50K into upgrading. The council gave them the standard 3 min to have their say at the meeting before deciding to knock it all down.

Bugger. They'll be regretting that, unfortunately though, if they knew that it was very likely going to be demolished and invested that money before the final decision was made then it was the risk they chose to take. Feel for them though.
Rimutex may have to get another loo.....

[NZsarge]

Well I don't care what kind of logic or spin you put on it as to wether it should be there or not, I think it was quite a handy facility to have there and more than once i've had lunch there during a ride down to the region, I think it's a shame it's going and i'll miss it even though I don't get down there all that much.

[James Deuce]

Yeah, and what really sucks as the cafe has new leaseholders and they have invested $50K into upgrading. The council gave them the standard 3 min to have their say at the meeting before deciding to knock it all down.

They've had 3 years to come up with a business plan, not 3 minutes.

[Headbanger]

Waste of 50k,Should have spent 30 of it on a holiday and invested the rest in a flash harry coffee cart.

At the very least it might have improved the coffee.

As far as the toilets are concerned, any section of road is a toilet.

And the girls should be in a kitchen,which is only a short walk to a toilet.


Its the balance of nature.

[Thunder 8]

I had known for a while that the council was considering this but then read in the paper that they had decided to knock the buildings down. So sent a snarky email away and got this in reply:

The future of the toilets and the tearooms has been an issue of much debate for the Council. Both the tearooms and the toilets rely on each other for utilities on the site (power and water), and to make both operations independent of each other is a very expensive exercise.
Recent history of the tearooms’ operation has shown that an operation of this kind up there is problematic and not economically viable, and a proposal to continue operating the tearooms by the current licensee will not, in the Council’s view, solve those inherent problems. Without the tearoom’s operation we would have a major problem with vandalism of the toilets, hence the decision to close it.
Therefore, the decision to decommission the site was one that was made out of necessity. I acknowledge that there may well be people that would like to retain a toilet or tearooms facility up there and who would use it. However, it would be a very time consuming and costly exercise to do so and it is this Council’s view that those costs do not outweigh the benefits of decommissioning the site.
Yours sincerely ,
Murray Waititi
Manager, Parks
Greater Wellington Regional Council

Sorry couldnt help myself.

The future of the toilets and the tearooms has been an issue of no interest for the Council. Both the tearooms and the toilets rely on each other for utilities on the site (power and water), and to make both operations independent of each other would be so easy its ridiculous.
Recent history of the tearooms’ operation has shown that an operation of this kind up there is a great idea and if the council got off its ass and got power up there , and a proposal to continue operating the tearooms by the current licensee it will solve those non existent problems. Without the tearoom’s operation we would have a major problem with vandalism of the toilets, hence it should be left there..
Therefore, the decision to decommission the site was one that was made with no thought or care and although there are many people that would like to retain a toilet or tearooms facility up there and who would use it, they can go to hell.It would cost bugger all in the scheme of things to keep this landmark site going but it is this Council’s view that dam the small people and full steam (roller)ahead "down she comes".
Yours INsincerely ,
Murray Waititi
Manager, Parks
Greater Wellington Regional Council

[Jiminy]

ive got it!!

a wellington motorcycles/mc cafe combo

If it was possible to run a commercially viable business atop the Rimutakas, this whole sad and sorry saga would not be an issue.

Now here is a great idea. Add a bit of red and white paintings inside those corners, a few wind or solar powered cameras along the road, a couple of sceens in the cafe with full replay and a video editing facility, a coin-operated chronometer at the bottom of the hill on each side, sell the best videos at the top, and voila!

You might get in trouble with the , though!

I wonder why no one thought of this business case...

[smoky]

I'd prefer the whole lot be demolished so that you can enjoy a pristine view with as little human construction to get in the way. It is an eyesore that should just be replaced with native plants / bush.

That also means removing the toilet too. I mean, it is only 1/2 an hour between Rimutex and Featherston for most - not long to "hang on" for. (or 1 hour for me!

Even without the cafe - Where's the pristine view???? Just because you're up high don't mean the view is worth it - honestly don't tell me you lot down there are so surrounded by scrub and eroded hills that you now think that's a pristine view?
Fantastic road – I agree
Pristine View – hardly
Good café – far from it

[Hitcher]

Yeah, and what really sucks as the cafe has new leaseholders and they have invested $50K into upgrading. The council gave them the standard 3 min to have their say at the meeting before deciding to knock it all down.

Utter and errant nonsense. There is a difference between the license holder and the "operator". They're not the same people. The license holder is the person who benefits both from an operating fee provided by the Council and from rents paid to him by the operators. This has been a reasonably significant sum. The license holder needs to be held accountable for misleading a string of operators into investing in a fundamentally flawed business. The operator's target for any recompense should be the license holder, not the Regional Council. Council has been accommodating on this matter for over three years. They are, after all, accountable for sensible spending of ratepayer funds.