Go-ahead for $329m Town Hall but council wants to avoid a repeat

Thursday, 26 October 2023

Millions will go towards fixing the Town Hall but a majority of councillors want a way out of the heritage trap in future.

Earthquake strengthening and heritage rules combined to lock the council into the $329 million project, which Wellington City Council chief executive Barbara McKerrow said was one of the most complex and risky projects in the country.

The $147m cost blow-out was announced three weeks ago to the dismay of councillors. In the lead up to the meeting they were told delay, pause, or demolition would only lead to increased costs.

Councillors who voted for the budget increase in Wednesday’s meeting were convinced there was no alternative. Deputy mayor Laurie Foon described the situation as a stalemate. Mayor Tory Whanau said “we cannot ignore it and hope that it will go away”.

Staff will now begin investigating whether a Local Bill could help the council and other building owners avoid this situation in future, after councillor Ben McNulty succeeded with an amendment.

The amendment was made with the Michael Fowler Centre in mind. The concert venue, next door to the Town Hall and on similarly waterlogged ground, was declared earthquake prone and will need strengthening before 2030.

“As a council we’re going to make sure we don’t fall into this situation again.”

McNulty said he was “left quite angry” that the council had to fund the Town Hall.

There would be opportunity costs ‒ council had made commitments to residents that would have to be scrapped because of the funding, he said, including slower delivery of the Paneke Pōneke bike network.

On the other hand, Nīkau Wi Neera was strongly in support of funding the project. It was important to have “a brick and mortar manifestation of the mana of the council”, he said.

A restored Town Hall would continue the proud tradition of supporting civic and artistic values in the city ‒ even if the construction site was a bit like a “pit of despair” with workers trying to get the water out.

The vote on funding the Town Hall broke the usual voting blocs around the council table. Nicola Young noted the “very interesting political alignments” which had sprung up.

She supported the project, saying the auditorium of the Town Hall was within the top ten in the word, but admitted the amount of money made her stomach churn. “Let’s get on and finish it, but then let’s take a deep breath and think about other projects on our municipal plate.”

Calvert, an independent councillor who has criticised others for their party affiliations in the past, supported amendments put forward by Labour councillors. “I will side with my Labour comrades here,” she joked.

Tim Brown, often in agreement with Calvert, described her amendment as virtue signalling which would achieve nothing.

Tamatha Paul, usually a critic of heritage listings, supported continuing with the restoration of the heritage building.

“Although it doesn’t bring me any joy, we’re not relitigating this decision. The decision is do we carry on, or do we end up with nothing?”

An amendment from Rebecca Matthews, directing staff to prioritise low cost over heritage restoration where possible, was passed. Mayor Tory Whanau used her casting vote to support it.

“We are stuck between a rock and an old place, and when I say rock I mean a shallow pool of water,” Matthews said, in reference to the waterlogged construction site.

Staff had given examples of where cost-saving might be possible, including replacing rimu with pine in some rooms.

“My heart did sink when an officer talked about pine … We need to do it properly,” said Iona Pannett.

It was the city’s most important building, she said. When the council voted to save it back in 2017, it wasn’t just because of the heritage listing.

Another amendment which passed directed the council to investigate outside funding sources for the project, including private donations.

Nureddin Abdurahman brought an amendment suggesting the council fund only the current financial year and delay the big budgetary decision in order to consult the public.

“There are many demands on our budgets and it’s a challenging time… We cannot just write a blank cheque.”

He was told it wasn’t possible without a year-long delay and associated million-dollar cost increases. The amendment was voted down.

Calvert’s amendment, which sought an independent review of the project’s governance, was also voted down.

“I’ve never seen a project escalate so much in cost, in 18 months,” she said. Other councillors voted against it because they were concerned it was a witch-hunt against staff.

How they voted on increasing the budget for the Town Hall

Voted to approve $147m: Mayor Tory Whanau, Deputy Mayor Foon, John Apanowicz, Tim Brown, Ray Chung, Sarah Free, Teri O’Neill, Iona Pannett, Tamatha Paul, Nīkau Wi Neera, Nicola Young

Voted to approve $14m to see out the current financial year: Nureddin Abdurahman, Diane Calvert, Ben McNulty, Tony Randle

Against increasing the budget at all: Rebecca Matthews