NorthTec's Kerikeri campus returning to life

Heritage NZ senior Māori heritage advisor Atareiria Hei Hei and communications advisor John O'Hare shift into new premises in what used to be NorthTec Kerikeri's administration block.

Life is returning to NorthTec's mothballed Kerikeri campus with Heritage New Zealand moving in and courses expected to restart early next year.

The campus, which was closed at the end of 2017, will be relaunched next Wednesday as a partnership with local iwi Ngāti Rehia.

NorthTec has so far declined to comment on its plans for the campus or what kind of courses will be offered. The education provider said it would instead release a statement earlier this week.

NorthTec's Kerikeri campus has been empty since its courses were axed at the end of 2017. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Meanwhile, the campus administration block has been leased to Heritage New Zealand. The organisation's seven Northland staff started moving in on Monday.

Northland manager Bill Edwards said Heritage NZ's 10-year lease on its first-floor offices in central Kerikeri had expired, and with office space in short supply the organisation had to ''look outside the box'' to find new premises.

''We saw an opportunity to rent an interesting space so we approached NorthTec and came to a mutual agreement to lease their administration building. It's a short-term lease but I hope we'll be there as long as we can.''

Edwards said the campus would benefit from having people on site.

The new location, at the corner of Kerikeri and Hone Heke Rds, was also good for Heritage NZ because it was close to historic Kerikeri Basin and offered a lot more space, which he hoped to be able to use for future public events.

In October last year NorthTec announced plans to cut courses at its Whangārei base in visual arts, sport and recreation, tourism, business administration, computing and foundation studies, and ''rest'' its campuses in Kerikeri and Rawene.

The restructuring was prompted by a looming $4.5 million deficit and was expected to lead to a net loss of 36 jobs across the three campuses.

At the time Kerikeri had 67 students while Rawene had 29.