Join the anti-commute: Porirua City urges Government departments to relocate

Sunday, 3 December 2017

Staff from MBIE are welcomed to their new office premises in Porirua City with a powhiri.

Hundreds of Wellington jobs are heading north and more will be pulled that way, as Porirua targets central Government departments and their employees.

The northern city is pitching itself as a safer place to do business when a natural disaster strikes, while highlighting cheaper tenant rents and close links to major transport routes, including Transmission Gully when it is expected to be finished in 2020.

Mike Tana has targeted Government departments to come to Porirua City.

Already, about 110 workers from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) have packed up and relocated from the capital to Porirua.

They will be joined by another 120 in the new year. And MBIE isn't the only Government department eyeing office space out of the capital, according to Porirua Mayor Mike Tana, who said staff from Te Puni Kōkiri had recently made the move.

Porirua Harbour. The city is well placed for Government workers, particularly in a natural disaster.

* Wellington council moves to the Terrace

* Government agencies prepare for big move**

One of those who made the switch some time ago is Paul Davies. He describes his 18-minute drive from Wellington to Porirua as an 'anti-commute' and he's pretty chuffed with it.

'I talk about the 'rush minute' I sometimes get on the way home.'

As Davies sails up the empty highway from his Aro Valley home to his Porirua City office he passes hundreds of commuter cars crawling in the opposite direction - something he teases his Wellington mates about.

'It takes less time from Wellington to Porirua than it does from Miramar to the city.'

The empty highway, warmer weather and cheaper lunches are among the drawcards of working in Porirua, Davies said, and Tana agreed.

The new workers were 'part of the push' to attract more Government departments to Porirua, the mayor said.

It wasn't about directly poaching workers from Wellington but providing a 'resilient' workplace, less likely to be cut off in an earthquake, he said.

'A lot of them live in the area, which means it's a shorter travel time and a better quality of life for them.'

The council had spoken to the new Government about the city's potential to provide new affordable and state homes, as well as a base for civil servants, particularly in the city's east.

'The most resilient area is in the east where there are no tsunami and no fault lines.'

The eastern suburbs would take full advantage of Transmission Gully and had plenty of empty land that could be used for more housing and agencies.

'This would be the very small area that they could get a very big win.'

Porirua City Chamber of Commerce acting boss Nick Leggett welcomed the news that more departments might relocate to the city.

'There is a recognition that Government needs to spread risk and build resilience in its operations and that makes Porirua an ideal secondary office location, close to public transport and at the geographical centre of the region.'

MBIE general manager of service support and design Mike West said the move would save the department - and taxpayers - money when it came to leases and allowed operations to expand.

'It also ensures that we decrease our property footprint, promote a culture of collaboration, improve health, safety and security, and improve our resilience should there be a natural disaster which impacts our operations.'

MBIE's head office would remain in Stout St in the Wellington CBD, he said.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said he was not concerned about the loss of jobs to its northern neighbour.

'Wellington works hard to retain all possible jobs, but we're also very supportive of our regional partners,' he said.

* Earlier versions of this story reported that staff from the Ministry for Primary Industries had already made the move to Porirua. A ministry spokesman said on December 5 that MPI had no staff working in Porirua, and 'no plans to relocate any of our people to Porirua'.