Office building opening completes Government agencies' shift

The new Ministry of Social Development Service Centre on the corner of Tennyson St and Wellesley Rd will be formally opened in a dawn pōwhiri. Photo / Paul Taylor

A major office shift has begun ahead of the opening of a new office block for three Government agencies in Napier on Monday.

On Friday, several trucks moved furniture and other items from the vacated Work and Income, Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children and Kāinga Ora Homes and Communities offices in a leased complex on the corner of Vautier and Dalton streets and backing on to the Napier courthouse.

The new Ministry of Social Development Service Centre on the corner of Tennyson St and Wellesley Rd will be formally opened in a dawn pōwhiri, which will mean restricted access at the intersection of Wellesley Rd, Kennedy Rd and Tennyson St for two hours before the morning rush.

The Napier City Council advises the hillward lane of Tennyson St will be closed between Wellesley Rd and the railway line from 4.30am to 6.30am on Monday.

A removal truck waits at the vacated offices during the shift ahead of the new building opening on Monday morning. Photo / Doug Laing

Access to turn on to Tennyson St will be available (as signed) but may be delayed at times, the council says.

The offices will not open to the public until Tuesday, the relocation continuing in stages with teams from the three agencies progressively moving in by mid-October.

It's the biggest single move of government services in Napier since the agencies' presence was established in the then-new Vautier and Dalton Houses more than 30 years ago.

Until about five years ago, Dalton House also housed police district headquarters staff, who are now based in the new district headquarters and Hastings police station.

Acting Ministry of Social Development (MSD) regional commissioner Karen Bartlett, who will attend the opening, said about 250 staff will be based in the new building, including the MSD East Coast Regional Office, Napier Service Centre and the Centralised Services Hawke's Bay Unit, along with Oranga Tamariki and Kāinga Ora staff.

The regional office team, led by Bartlett, cover the communities of Gisborne, Wairoa, Napier-Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay.

There will be both public and staff car parking in and around the building, with staff who use government cars having access to a basement carpark.

Local kaumātua will lead the 5.30am blessing and dedication, with staff and managers of the three agencies, iwi and invited community partners and stakeholders in attendance.