Opera and Masterton court share | Wairarapa Opinion | Local Voices from Wairarapa, New Zealand

It's an odd sight, looking across at the Masterton Town Hall and seeing the Operatunity bus parked alongside the police wagon.

I imagine the paddy wagon is not often needed outside these afternoon opera performances.

The respectable and generally grey-haired opera audience has been arriving for the show alongside a rather different crowd arriving for court hearings.

It's not such a bad arrangement, really - and perhaps the strains of operatic voices drifting through to the Frank Cody Lounge help to soothe those waiting for their appearance before the judge.

But it can't be an appropriate long-term arrangement.

There are limited facilities at the town hall for duty solicitors to talk to their clients, there are no holding cells, and there are still hearings being held in the police station and in Wellington for those in custody.

The town hall is the second temporary court location since the District Court building was closed due to earthquake risk last year, and there will no doubt be others before the court is repaired - work that doesn't appear to be under way yet.

Across town, St Luke's Church members have swung into action in response to their own building crisis, as the church also needs significant earthquake proofing.

The church is just the latest in a long list of heritage buildings in Wairarapa identified as being at risk in an earthquake - which includes the Times-Age building. This rush to shore up risky buildings, prompted by the devastating effects of the Christchurch earthquake, will have a major impact on the built landscape in Wairarapa, and around the country.

Which is why it's all the more important to protect those of our heritage buildings that are not beyond repair - like St Luke's.

Almost lost in the 1942 earthquake, it would be nice to see it toughened up to withstand another one.