Walls hold their secret — leader in hiding

Press, 9 June 1977, Page 1

Walls hold their secret — leader in hiding

'A veil of secrecy, enforced by dogs and sometimes hostile guards, descended yesterday on the walled Waipara religious commune where the giant arms cache was found by the police. The reputed leader of the sect, Dr Douglas Alexander Metcalf, has gone into hiding since news of the arms - raids leaked out.

Two men wearing balaclavas emerged to throw stones at a photographer yesterday morning, but a young woman and a child were the only visible occupants of the fortress-like farm in the afternoon. “Please don’t ask me any questions; I have been told not to speak to anyone.” said the woman.

She said that she did not know where Dr Metcalf had gone. If she had known, she would not have been allowed to say. About 170 firearms have been taken in three police raids on the commune, which lies on the south bank of the Waipara River.

Communications equioment and a big quantity of ammunition have also been confiscated. So far the police have made only two arrests.

Dr Metcalf bought the 100-acre property—of which 32 acres is leasehold—in July, 1972. The previous owner was Mr R. Shearer, of Waipara. At that time, the Government valuation of the property was $lB,BOO. Seen at a distance from the Main North Road, the sect’s farm would not attract attention. It is well fenced and little different from others in the area—except that goats a J horses instead of sheep graze peacefully in the paddocks. But a detour down a side road reveals that the property is far from ordinary. Close up, it takes on the appearance of a prison, or a military installation.

The two dwellings and their maze of corrugated iron outbuildings are protected by hundreds of metres of iron and concrete block fence, backed by belts of pine trees. The massive main gate is securely padlocked, and set into a two-metre con-

crete wall, topped with metal spikes. Several Dig dogs give loud warning of anyone approaching th farmhouse proper, at the northern end of the compound. But the strangest part of the farm is screened by fences from the entrance track, and is not easily seen from the main road. It is an extensive concrete and wooden enclosure more than 75m long and 50m wide. Inside the buttressed concrete walls is a variety of concrete block archways, towers, and al-tar-like shapes. Some locals call the open-roofed construction “the temple.” From a distance it looks like a miniature walled city. Many Waipara residents did not know that the structure was being built. Now speculation is rife about what it is for, and what it contains.

Guesses range from a swimming pool — to things much more sinister. The structure is obvious-

ly not yet completed; piles of concrete blocks and other building materials are strewn around the walls. No building permits have been issued to the sect, and none have been applied for, according to the county clerk of the Hurunui County Council (Mr A. J. McKendry). “It’s a question of whether the walled construction can be called a building,” Mr McKendry said. He confirmed that the farm would be visited “in due course” by the council’s building and health inspectors. There are rumours that earthworks on part of the property house underground bunkers. Mr McKendry said that these would qualify as structures, and would have to be inspected by the Labour Department or the council.