Decision time for city council

Tauranga City Council is maintaining a ‘strictly business' approach to the decision making process surrounding their leaking, mouldy offices in the city's CBD.

Councillors are scheduled to meet today in the hope of coming to a decision and discussing how they approach to the Willow Street project.


Tauranga City Council's headquarters on Willow Street. Photo: File.

Some $2 million has been set aside via this year's Long Term Plan, and officials insist they will approach the project using business case methodology to assess strategic issues and opportunities associated with the future of the campus buildings.

This afternoon's meeting will broach taking the next step, choosing the NZ Treasury Better Business Case methodology to establish the programme business case stage.

It is public knowledge that the damage to council's HQ is severe enough to make a demolish and rebuild option viable.

Other decisions are expected to follow once a verdict on the building's future has been reached.

Former acting Chamber of Commerce CEO Toni Palmer was among several Long Term Plan submitters who called for authorities to use the discovery of mould to take a wider look.

'The current problems which the council has with its civic and administration buildings should be seen as a one-off opportunity to consider the future shape, role and function of the central city/CBD,” she says in the chamber's submission.

Instead of going straight to the repair and renovate option, Toni urges the council to explore options including demolition, with the objective of opening up the central city to create a plaza/destination as foreshadowed in the 2007 City Centre Strategy.

It would also provide an opportunity for council to look at how it delivers the majority of its customer facing services – from a single centralised administration block to a more devolved and decentralised approach.

'How the council responds to the options presented by the problems with its present buildings is one of the most important decisions the council is likely to make over the next decade,” says Toni.

The expected decision will tip councillors into a series of council workshops throughout November.

A council decision is required on November 17 to approve a strategic case, before they embark on another five workshops.

There will then be a gap before the preferred option is workshopped in February next year, followed by a council decision in March to adopt the programme business case.

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12 comments

business case methodology?

Posted on 25-08-2015 13:41 | By Secret Squirrel

That is strange, that then will most likely adopt the same plan as for Bay Venues, the 'business mythology' there is simple, how to spend more and more, the tab is huge for ratepayers and no sign of stopping, I bet the same will result in the CBD.


CBD

Posted on 25-08-2015 13:42 | By Secret Squirrel

The best result for everything and all others in the CBD is that Council left, stayed away and never came back. What part of that do they not understand?


Wanna Bet?

Posted on 25-08-2015 16:20 | By Mackka

Betcha they go for the rebuild - after it's not their money is it!


Mackka

Posted on 25-08-2015 17:30 | By expatAucklander

What exactly is your alternative proposal? I'm sure I've read somewhere that there are over 500 employees in the CBD and it makes sense to have them located together rather than silo departments across the city. If the mould/weathertighness is not easily repairable it would probably make better sense to start again surely?


Council building

Posted on 25-08-2015 19:29 | By tia

Great to see 'expatAucklander has some sense. Your comment is constructive and better than all the other rubbish being posted.


Anne

Posted on 26-08-2015 08:04 | By fletch

How about a well known property developer build a huge shed and they all go in there. Doesn't have to be lots of offices just cubicles.


How long?

Posted on 26-08-2015 08:40 | By The author of this comment has been removed.

Nine months on and in a nutshell council says "we have a building problem, we may have to move out altogether". The wheels of council turn very slowly indeed. Meanwhile unknown dollars in rents are being shelled out at the ratepayers expense. Get on with it to avoid a blowout!


Is this an over-reaction?

Posted on 26-08-2015 09:55 | By Annalist

I sensibly ask this question because I'm sure there are many leaky buildings in Tauranga and many with mold. I also question who has been held accountable for the building leaking in the first place?


big ted

Posted on 26-08-2015 10:51 | By Roadkill

Slow moving wheels is the problem, but really there is no escape from the blowouts either way. On one side we have to many staff scattered all around the CBD and at huge extra cost to ratepayers like that is normal. On the other side they will want to spend an utter fortune to build a massive, expensive overkill of a new building. It will be fancy, huge, massive and of course double if not triple the cost of anything else. In the end ... it will be just a simple wee shoebox build of similar standard as already exists, such is the way of TCC and the compliance department self monitoring. Who pays in the end, the Tauranga ratepayers for this little extravagance and series of blunders.


makka

Posted on 26-08-2015 11:00 | By Roadkill

You are correct, the most expensive and extravagant option will be chosen. Even the best option for ratepayers, Fletch has it sorted, but actually getting rid of TCC from that location would be far better, make the entire block into a mall, with at least two levels of parking underneath would be much better for the rest of the CBD. Incorporate a office block to house say at most 50 odd would be all that is needed. In fact the rest should all be removed permanently as the total TCC staff is around 1050 and still growing, only 550 odd are housed in the CBD, if all wee in one place then I am sure ratepayers would then get the picture on how many and how bad that is.


@ Annalist

Posted on 26-08-2015 15:03 | By The Master

Yes it is for sure, you have got that right. If Council was commercial and business like then there would be two important differences, firstly the mess would have been sorted years ago and so never got so bad and second all things that have happened to date are part of the bigger plan to get a brand new building for all the Muppets to live in happily ever after.


Extravagance?

Posted on 27-08-2015 10:59 | By Roadkill

I can see that the senior officials will want to build something huge and monstrous, of gigantic proportions and equally crazy cost. It will be of the same type of quality decision making process as Fonterra, build a new massive HQ but just before finished sack heaps of the staff (that bit is right and overdue) but what is the building for? Same applies here.


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