New justice hub prompts move
Te Oranganui’s services will continue uninterrupted
Iwi-governed community organisation Te Oranganui is moving from its base in Campbell St after more than 12 years, due to the development of the new Whanganui justice hub.
The organisation’s Te Waipuna Health service will relocate to 151 Guyton St, its vocations service to 284 St Hill St, while the rest of the organisation’s services will operate out of Terrace House at 33 Wicksteed St.
Te Oranganui chief executive Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata said the move was expected to be completed by the end of next month.
She said they had known for several years about the future developments as their landlord, Tupoho Investments, had told them about it.
“Towards the end of last year, those decisions became concretised and therefore we knew we had to look for alternative options,” she said.
The new locations are short-term options, with the Guyton and St Hill St buildings already being used by the organisation as it continues to look for a more permanent residence.
Staff and services had been moved around the different buildings, which Walsh-Tapiata said was done to make the services more effective.
She was thrilled to have most of the services based out of one building, as they had worked hard to keep their kaimahi together.
Walsh-Tapiata said the delivery of the organisation’s services would not be significantly affected by the move.
“There might be a little bit of time when our community gets to know where we are moving to, and therefore get to know that they shouldn’t automatically drive to our current premises, but we’re very positive in thinking there will be no significant effect in terms of the delivery of our services,” she said.
Once the move is completed, Te Oranganui will invite its community for karakia and a celebration to mark the move.
The large block bounded by Bell, Dublin, Wicksteed and Liverpool Sts, formerly the site of UCOL Whanganui, is being vacated by the groups that currently operate out of it, with The Whanganui Men’s Shed shutting down its building to move into the old Marist Football clubrooms in Peat St.
In their place will be a centralised justice hub, with a new Whanganui Police Station and Courthouse being built there among other social services.
The hub is a collaboration between Whanganui Police, Tupoho and the Ministry of Justice.
Whanganui Police had been granted $25 million by the Government for the station in 2020, while the Ministry of Justice announced in 2021 the courthouse would cost $50 million.
Whanganui Police area commander Inspector Ross Grantham said the project had been progressing well.
They were at the stage of reviewing concepts for the exterior of the new station, with detailed plans for the interior to be developed later.
“We’re looking at trying to futureproof as much as we can, so [providing] sufficient space for our numbers to grow,” he said.
They were looking for ways to make construction sustainable by turning some of the land back into
wetlands and constructing the new buildings from the materials in the old buildings.
After the plan was developed, a construction timeline for the station would be decided on.
Previously, the Justice Minister said construction on the courthouse would begin in mid-2023, with it planned to open in 2025.
“It’s taken us a while to get to this stage, but once we get past the concepts and the detailed design, things will begin to move a lot quicker,” Grantham said.
Collaborating with Tū poho and the Ministry of Justice on the hub had been exciting for Grantham.
“The fact that we are in a true collaboration with local Iwi, Tupoho, is exciting in itself, but the fact that we’re building something that is for the whole community with iwi and [the Ministry of] Justice is pretty awesome,” he said.
The concepts were due by February or March, after which the detailed plan would be developed.
Tupoho Iwi chairman Ken Mair said the project was progressing well from their perspective, and they were pleased with the collaborative process.
“We’ve always seen this as an opportunity [for] strong systemic change and also to have a collaborative approach based on our values in regards to the needs our hapū and our community,” he said.
Tupoho had been very involved in the process and, in particular, making sure the values of the iwi and community were at the centre of the project and that it remained “whā naucentric” in its approach.
He said there were still conversations to be had, which was par for the course for large projects such as this.