The much-loved “tin shed” near the corner of Aporo and Marriages Roads has been replaced with a new incarnation.
The Tasman bus shelter stood for almost a century but was removed three months ago after the Tasman Cycle Trails Trust cited safety concerns for cyclists on the Great Taste Trail that ran beside the shed.
The Tasman Area Community Association member Steve Richards led the design and build team, who constructed the shelter in the Aporo Orchard packing shed.
“The new shelter’s design references the old shed with its steep-pitched red roof and white corrugated iron walls,” he says. “The only piece of the old shed we managed to reuse was the seat with initials carved in it. It is now the back rest of the new seat.”
The group reports that although the new shed is smaller than the old one, “it does overcome all the problems it had”.
The noted problems are that the original shed ‘was largely rotten, a danger to cyclists on the Great Taste Trail and absurdly, wasn’t at the bus stop, which was 20 metres down the road’.
The shed has now been moved away from the corner to an area where the bus could feasibly stop.
TACA say that they saw the opportunity to remember the history and still offer shade and shelter for people waiting for the bus.
The original tin shed was removed intact but in rough shape by TACA chairperson Hamish Rush, and he says that it is still sitting on his property, right where it was put on removal day.
The plan was to try and restore the century-old shed and find a place where it can once again be enjoyed by the community, but he has since found that the council does not want it on their land, for liability reasons.
Hamish says he welcomes suggestions about its reinstatement going forward, and that it will not be destroyed.
In the meantime, he feels that TACA has created something that is a worthy historical reflection of the old shed, “giving it the old nod”.
“I think it’s important when you’re a small community that gives a damn.”
TACA says that they would like to thank Mitre 10 Motueka and Freeman Roofing for generous discounts and to the Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust and TDC for the opportunity and funding.
“Now we just have to get the bus to stop,” they note.
