Whangārei council centre building '$10m too expensive', councillor, mayoral hopeful say

Tuesday, 6 August 2019

Whangarei District Council's Alan Adcock says the new civic centre building, on the Whangārei RSA site, will be a showpiece for the district.

A $38 million price tag for Whangārei's new civic centre is $10m too high, according to a councillor and a mayoral hopeful.

But the Whangārei District Council says the price is good value for money, as it includes land and a sustainable design to bring down running costs.

The 5000 to 5500 square metre building will be built next to the council's existing Forum North site, on council-owned land currently occupied by Whangārei RSA.

The building will house all 350 council staff, who are currently scattered around the city, plus a council chamber which can be used for a public gallery and civil defence response.

Whangārei District councillor Crichton Christie says the $38m council centre building is too grand.

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In March, Auckland-based Canam Construction was appointed lead contractor, while The Building Intelligence Group was chosen as principal's agent.

Whangārei District Council's Forum North building was opened in 1968.

They must build the project within the $37.9 million price tag set in the council's 2018-2028 Long Term Plan and have it open by May 2022.

But councillor Crichton Christie said the council was spending too much money making the building 'very grand and spectacular'.

'My wish list for council is a lot more than just an office block – we've got $10 million to spend on a theatre and we've got loads of unsealed roads to be done; there's lots of other issues that are higher priority.'

Whangārei District Council mayoral hopeful Tony Savage says more than 150 people voted 'yes' when asked if $38m was too much for a civic centre.

Christie did not dispute the need to replace the 50-year-old Forum North centre, with the council spending about $1m a year on office rent.

But Christie took issue with the way the council procured the project, saying it should have gone for an open tender instead of telling the industry what its budget was.

He also disagreed with the council adding about 20 per cent to the building size to cater for future growth.

The Forum North building is not big enough to house all Whangārei District Council staff.

Christie was supported by mayoral hopeful Tony Savage, who said local building experts believed the civic centre could be built for $10m less.

The tender process was 'flawed' and prices could have been contained, said Savage, who is a property lawyer.

'I think they've gone overboard on all the 'nice to haves'.'

Whangārei mayor Sheryl Mai says the $38m pricetag for the civic centre includes land purchase and fit-out.

Savage was backed by people on the street, with passersby to his Cameron St office voting 14 to 1 in a poll that the $38m pricetag was too high.

Even stronger was the belief that the project should be local, with people voting 80 to 1 it should be built by a local firm.

'I've heard Canam is coming up here and nicking all the local staff,' Savage said. 'Local firms are interested in their staff long-term.'

But Alan Adcock, the council's general manager – corporate and chief financial officer, said the council's procurement policy favoured a proven track record over being local.

'There's been no buildings of this scale in Whangārei,' he said.

Adcock said the council's budget was publicly available and the procurement involved seeing if the industry could do the project for less.

The civic centre had been quantity-surveyed, while the principal's agent would continue to peer-review the project, he said.

Adcock admitted some up-front savings could be made if the civic centre did not have capacity for future growth and it was not a sustainable building.

But to do so would be short-sighted and more expensive in the long run, he said.

Current mayor Sheryl Mai said the civic centre project was long overdue and it was great to be 'all systems go'.

The council was being open and transparent about the full cost of the project, as the $38m included the $3.4m land purchase, design, fit-out, demolition of the existing building and landscaping, rather than just construction, Mai said.

The public was able to have a say on the project through the 2018 Long Term Plan process.

But Mai admitted the benefits of the project had not been properly sold to the community yet.

'There are operating benefits in not having to pay $1m a year in lease, productivity gains by having all our staff in one place and benefits for the community by having a one-stop-shop.'

HOW DOES THE PRICE COMPARE?

While no two projects are the same, here's how Whangārei's civic centre compares with roughly similar projects:

- $12.3 million: budget for Taupō District Council's new administration building. Cultural precinct to cost an additional $33.5m.

- $23.2 million: capital budget for Tauranga City Council's new civic administration building and public plaza.

- $38 million: budget for Whangārei District Council's civil centre building.

- $51.6 million: budget for Ashburton District Council's new library and civic centre.

- $72 million: cost of a seven-storey office block in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter with 8290 square metres of space.