Council retains all service centres

Decision will deliver a more efficient property network

Auckland Council will deliver a more efficient and effective property network after the Finance and Performance Committee today agreed to sell seven council-owned office sites, enabling reinvestment in customer service centres, local board offices, staff workspace and the back office areas of its community facilities.

As part of its corporate property strategy, the decision means the council retains all 20 customer service centres and 21 local board facilities across the Auckland region.

Face to face presence preserved

The council will sell seven properties that were expensive to maintain while keeping its local, face-to-face presence with communities across Auckland and ensuring appropriate office space for the council’s elected representatives and council staff across the city.

The decision follows an extensive period of consultation and engagement with councillors, local boards and council staff.

Councillor Ross Clow, Chair of the Finance and Performance committee, says, “This decision is about the next step on our journey towards becoming a fit-for-purpose organisation that makes the most of its assets.

“In making this decision, local communities have been top of mind. Auckland is a big city and residents need to be able to deal with their council face-to-face. The corporate property strategy ensures that all service centres remain open and the strong connection between council and its local communities remains.

Improving service

“It will also improve our services to Aucklanders, for example, face-to-face access to council regulatory services in all 13 wards rather than in only half, which is the current situation.

“It also puts 96 per cent of Auckland’s population within 10kms of a council office,” he said.

The sale of the seven properties comes at a time when the council is focused on ensuring it is managing its assets in a cost-effective way and providing high-quality and effective services to Auckanders.

“If we did nothing, we forecast having to spend around $200 million on servicing ageing buildings over the next decade, leaving us with a shortfall of $117 million that would need to be found elsewhere.

“At a time when we must prioritise investing in transport, housing and our environment, we simply can’t afford to fund property maintenance on buildings that are no longer fit for purpose,” said Mr Clow.

The proceeds from the sale of the buildings will be reinvested in the council’s existing property portfolio to ensure the buildings are maintained to a high standard.

In some locations, such as Orewa and Pukekohe, the sale of the property will mean the location of the local services will change.

“Any local board office or customer service centre that could be affected by the sale of any of these buildings will be relocated within the area, in consultation with the relevant local board,” said Mr Clow.

The buildings and land agreed for sale are:

• 4-10 Mayoral Drive, central city

• 35 Graham Street (and associated buildings), central city

• 6 Henderson Valley Road (excluding the ‘civic’ building), Henderson

• 4 Osterley Way, Manukau

• 50 Centreway Road, Orewa

• 35 Coles Crescent, Papakura

• 82 Manukau Road, Pukekohe

A development strategy will be developed for all of these properties to ensure the delivery of strategic outcomes, likely to be a four to six-year programme.

More information

For further detail and information on the proposal read the agenda here.

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