Tauranga City Council grants Historic Village project extra $3.4m after defects found in building

Significant structural concerns have been discovered at the Balcony Room building at the Tauranga Historic Village. Photo / Alex Cairns

“Tough decisions” may need to be made about some buildings in Tauranga’s Historic Village after an extra $3.44 million was approved to fix “serious” defects and finish upgrading one of them.

The additional ratepayer funding, discussed in a Tauranga City Council meeting today, takes the cost to upgrade the building to $7.2m.

The 17th Ave village sits on 5.5 hectares of land and is owned and administered by the council as a community facility.

The Balcony Room building being upgraded is on the northwest corner of the village’s main junction, opposite The Whipped Baker.

A report by village manager Blair Graham presented to the meeting said the building was built onsite around 1981 to 1983 - before the introduction of the Building Act 1992 and associated building codes and regulations. Most of its construction was done by volunteers.

Graham’s report said the extent of the structural issues was only exposed once the wall linings were fully removed.

“These issues included discontinuous studs, no boundary joist around the first floor, along with strapping inconsistencies.

“These defects present a serious concern to the structural integrity of the building.”

Graham said the issues meant there was not enough budget to finish the project, which began in December, and a 40 per cent increase was needed.

The building’s upgrade included a destination cafe and a commercial kitchen, which would serve the cafe and hireable venues within the village and was “essential” to attracting visitors to the village.

Council commissioners were asked to consider continuing with the full upgrade, with completion in February 2025, or to stop works now, secure the site and revisit the project in future years.

Other options were to demolish the building and build new, or demolish the building and reinstate the site as open space in the village.

The village’s purpose was to provide a place to tell the story of local history and for festivals, markets, and other events. It is also home to 17 community groups, many with an artistic, cultural and social needs focus.

General manager of community services Barbara Dempsey told commissioners the building was “integral” to the operation of the village and its upgrade had become “a significant structural upgrade, which leads us to come here to ask for money”.

Tauranga City Council general manager of community services Barbara Dempsey. Photo / Alex Cairns

Dempsey said the money could be sourced from funds for unbudgeted expenditure for 2024/25 and uncommitted projects for 2023/24.

“We are very mindful we can’t keep adding to the ratepayer input for the village,” Dempsey said.

She suggested a business case to ensure “the reliance on ratepayers’ contributions is not increased from the draft Long-Term Plan 2024-2034″.

The discovery prompted the need for a wider review of buildings in the village that could lead to further investment or the need to “make some tough decisions about other buildings”, Dempsey said.

Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley raised concerns about the state of the village buildings community groups were using.

“We do from time to time get complaints about trying to get it to operate in a more sustainable way. Otherwise, we get buildings not fit for purpose being used by people. If there are buildings not fit for purpose, we may well have to close them rather than let community groups use unsafe buildings for peppercorn rents,” Tolley said.

People walk around the Tauranga Historic Village during the Tauranga Moana Waitangi Day Festival at the Historic Village in 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner

Community organisations receive a 20 per cent discount on council user fees for meetings in village venues.

“I continue to be amazed that successive councils have allowed buildings to be used by kind-hearted passionate community groups in buildings not fit for purpose,” Tolley said.

“We might have to be tougher about what buildings we actually allow to be used.

“People are carrying out hugely important community services in areas that affect them. We hear a lot about people having a warm, dry home. It’s just as important that where they are working, they are a safe environment.”

The commission approved the funding but noted for village works in general there was to be a capital expenditure cap of $8.2m in the draft 2024-2034 Long-Term Plan and an operational expenditure cap of $2.4m.

In the 2022/23 Annual Plan, the council budgeted $5.1m for for upgrades to Historic Village buildings. This was $2.7m more than projected in year two of the 2021-2031 Long-Term Plan, with increased explained as “increased budget requirements for upgrades to existing buildings”.

This followed the council waiving three months’ rent for Historic Village community organisation tenants in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Commercial tenants received a 50 per cent discount for the same period.

The business case will now be prepared and presented to commissioners at a later date. It was expected this would tie in with a wider review of buildings at the Historic Village.

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.