What makes Raglan so special? It’s a question I’ve been trying to answer lately, and so I often ask people in interviews about their view as a prompter for debate, especially if they are political candidates.
The thing is, our town keeps changing despite people’s best efforts to stop it so I’m thinking it could be really important to get a proper answer. If we don’t know what makes this place so special – and how Raglan became Raglan – then we probably won’t be able to preserve the whatever-it-is quality that attracted so many of us here.
Richard Bax, a former council manager, says Raglan really stands out as a place where people don’t want things to change. We rebuilt the wharf to be as similar to the old one as we could and we put in a new footbridge as close to the old one as possible even though there might have been better ways to do it.
Even though the instinct is right, this kind of change prevention really won’t work. Change will happen regardless so we need to develop a vision of what we want the town to be like, a really specific vision, based on an understanding of what makes this place tick – and use that to direct change.
As I type I realise I may have just described the revitalised Raglan Naturally project but there’s one specific area that I want to focus on: housing. I don’t have an immediate answer to what makes this place special but I’m confident the housing situation will have a huge influence over the type of place we’ll be in the future.
With all due respect to my fellow middle class Raglanites, I think it’s the artists, hippies and surf bums who’ve had the major influence on how this town has evolved. Well, them and people who are on the run from Hamilton, too. They’re the ones with the time and presence in the town to create culture.
Through no fault of anyone in particular, they’re being replaced by people who work long hours (probably in Hamilton) to pay off the huge mortgage they just took out because they wanted to move to Raglan and enjoy the local culture.
I’m not trying to point the finger at anyone but I am attempting to ask a question that goes like this: How are we going to ensure there is low cost housing in Raglan so that we can maintain a diverse group of people in town?
Aaron Mooar is host of the Morning Show on Raglan Community Radio 98.1FM and streaming live at www.raglanragdio.com
Why would we want low cost housing, have you seen Raglan west lately?
This is a necessary discussion, but the middle-class commuter bit perhaps misses the mark. In recent years many of us in the (lower) middle class bought in Raglan because it was significantly more affordable to buy a section and build a simple house than it would have been in Hamilton. You’re right though, even so, many of us do have “huge” mortgages—not because we’ve built ostentatious homes (quite the opposite, in many cases), but simply because our incomes are modest and we don’t have any choice. Many of us newcomers do our best to support the local arts community and many of us are keen surfers and go along to community events. Were there suitable work available in Raglan, I’m guessing that most of us would prefer to work in Raglan too. I’m not sure that Raglan property prices have risen any more than other places in the region. If there is little low cost housing in Raglan it’s because there is little low cost housing anywhere. And the rise and rise of Bookabach and AirBnB might also better explain the rental shortage.
So how might we, constructively, start a conversation about low cost housing in Raglan? A logical place to start would be affordable land and flexible planning. (Let me be clear: I am not a developer or involved in the building or property industry in any way.) In terms of the former, either the Council needs to step in (unimaginable) or there needs to be a not-for-profit community-based land development agency—but again, it’s hard to know how/by whom this might be funded/financed. Assuming land could be made available or purchased, creating low cost housing would, I think, largely depend on how many dwellings/what kind of dwellings/what size of dwellings could be built on a single title. One dwelling per title almost certainly = unaffordable. Finally, there is the issue of actual building costs and how to keep them affordable. One would need a very skilled architect, who believed in the vision, to design modular units in rugged materials, not to mention a community-minded contractor to build them. Low cost housing is a tough nut to crack, but, with community consensus, probably not impossible. With its history of civic engagement, Raglan could lead the way.