No place like home, says CEO
‘‘The council has decided to defer planning, design and contractual work until the results of reform are better understood.’’
A controversial plan by the Waikato Regional Council to build a $34 million office building in Hamilton East looks set to be shelved.
Regional council chief executive Bob Laing will present his submission to the council’s draft longterm plan tomorrow and recommend deferring a start on the project.
Councillors will be asked to approve the changes.
The multimillion-dollar project has already divided the council, as well as public opinion, with many residents questioning its timing.
Rates Control councillors have repeatedly voted against the project, while submitters at yesterday’s longterm plan hearing urged the council to rethink it.
Ratepayer Enid Sincock said the council could ask staff to share desks or work remotely from home as a solution to crammed office space.
The council initially signalled it wanted to spend $414,000 on design for the building in 2012/2013, followed by $1.116m in 2013/2014 and $4.63m in 2014/2015.
It argued that replacing the council’s four existing office buildings in Hamilton with a single purpose-built building on land it owned in Grey St would cut energy, security and maintenance costs and improve staff productivity and efficiencies.
But in an about-turn, Mr Laing recommended councillors defer the project until it better understood the outcome of the Government’s local government reform.
The Government’s Better Local Government plan aims to improve council efficiency and will look at how to get the best quality infrastructure at least cost.
Mr Laing recommends the following extract be included in the draft plan: ‘‘Ideally this project would get under way over the next three years. However, in light of central government’s recently announced proposals for local government reform, the council has decided to defer planning, design and contractual work until the results of reform are better understood.’’
The change, if accepted by councillors, means $1.53m budgeted for preliminary scoping and design work will be removed from the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 budgets. The building proposal could be expected to be revisited once local government reform plans were better understood.
Mr Laing’s recommended changes do not affect planned remedial work on the council’s leaky Grey St headquarters. The council has budgeted $1.6m for that in 2012/2013.