To put it simply, we outgrew the current facility about 20 years ago and we have been struggling to get by since then.
Our District has continued to grow over the last 20 years, and while we've tried to keep our staff numbers down, in order to adequately serve our community, Council staff numbers have grown too. With population growth expected to continue we need to ensure we have a central place for our community and to support staff in delivering outcomes for our District.
While Forum North has served us well, it is far too small for the staff we need for a district our size, meaning we have had to rent more space and spread our staff across separate locations – which is really inefficient and costly to the ratepayer.
We looked at extending and refurbishing the existing building, but because of its design (and the cost to bring it up to current building and earthquake standards) this was going to be the most expensive option.
This civic building will be a community hub for all local government-related activity, with enough space to house all of our current staff under one roof, while providing an open and engaging customer interface. First and foremost, the civic centre is about bringing our team together in one building and enabling us to deliver a more efficient service for our community.