On the move again
For the Citizens Advice Bureau crew in Napier, the plans to move location are well and truly in place.
A shift to new premises is on the cards in the wake of the lease of their present offices on Raffles St not being renewed and a new buyer stepping in.
However, as manager Jenny Pearce says, it’s not something the 50 devoted volunteers in the crew aren’t used to, as back in 2013 they had to leave their long-time rooms at Memorial Square.
“We’ve got the boxes and tape ready.”
The bureau will close its doors at the Napier Community Hub in Raffles St on Friday, August 24, and open its new doors, on Hastings St beside the BNZ bank, on August 27.
“So we will be having a pretty busy weekend,” she says.
“But we’ve got a great team here and we don’t want to be closed too long.”
Jenny says it was important people knew they were on the move. All the usual contact lines would remain the same and signs would show where it was operating from. It would not be the last shift for the bureau, however, as the Hastings St move would effectively be temporary before a more long-term site could be found.
Jenny says the Napier City Council had been supportive as there were few suitable buildings available for lease that would suit the bureau’s needs.
“They have been very good and this will work for us until we have something more permanent.”
Part of the long-term plan could be establishing the bureau within the proposed new Napier Public Library building. The library is also on a temporary site, at the MTG.
On the council’s website, chief executive Wayne Jack says the council was working on a strategy and later this year could begin to contemplate where the new central library would be.
“The library building on Station St is still on the table,” he says.
“All of the council administrative services, including the library, can fit into that building if it’s renovated appropriately, and is affordable.
“So that’s still an option, as well as a number of other sites around the CBD that we’re investigating, too.”