Lawcentre finds new‘cosy’ offices
A Nelson charity may have a new home, but is still offering the same service to thousands of people across the region.
The Community Law centre has moved to its new Collingwood St address after its lease finished at the Aon House building in Hardy St.
The service officially opened its doors to the community yesterday, but even when they were still unpacking last week, they had people visiting the centre.
The centre, which provides free legal advice, is home to two solicitors, two law workers and a receptionist, who sometimes has to double as a counsellor.
Community Law manager Peter Riley said the new building was easier to find and more welcoming.
However, the building was ‘‘cosy’’ as it was smaller than its previous premises, he said.
Mr Riley’s office doubled as the staff room, the boardroom and was also used by the other staff members when they needed to have meetings with more than two people.
The service was always busy and tried to keep up with demand of the Nelson, Tasman and Buller regions, Mr Riley said.
They were contacted by more than 4000 people last year.
‘‘I think we will see more people contacting us because the recession is not improving.’’
They wanted the service to be accessible to everyone, and as well as the Collingwood St building, they also ran fortnightly clinics throughout the Nelson region, which were ran by local lawyers who volunteered their time, he said.
The centre offers help for a range of issues, from immigration to neighbourly feuds.
Law worker Margaret Thomson, who has worked for Community Law for the past six years, said she had come across some interesting cases in her time.
The oddest was a dispute about worms.
An owner of a worm farm contacted Community Law wanting legal advice because his neighbour was enticing his worms with food through the fence line into their own property. Ms Thomson tried to resolve the issue by telling the owner to move their worms away from the fenceline.
While some cases that come through the centre are easily fixed, there are others that can be more serious.
‘‘We see some real challenges,’’ Mr Riley said.
The most common advice sort by clients was about employ- ment, followed by family law.
Staff solicitor Jim Ennion said sometimes he felt like he was ‘‘slaying a dragon’’.
‘‘There’s heart breakers, and there’s a lot of triumphs.’’
For free legal advice you can drop into the centre from Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm at 63 Collingwood St.