Victoria University staff and students told not to come to Pipitea campus due to protest

Protesters setting up base on the university's campus. Photo / File

Victoria University of Wellington is advising staff and students not to attend the Pipitea campus as some protesters continue to occupy part of the university's grounds.

A spokesperson for the university said they're asking those affected to work and study remotely until the situation with the protest is resolved.

They said a number of classes and events had been disrupted this week, but they were hopeful that normal operations would be able to resume on campus from Monday, February 14.

An employee, who didn't want to be named, said the protesters set up camp there on Tuesday and the numbers seemed to be growing as people were moved out of Parliament.

"This is causing a pretty major disruption to the operation of both the VUW Business School and the Law School (on top of the difficulties already associated with operating in red) and is affecting hundreds of students and staff members."

The employee said staff cars were locked in the park when the university took the decision to lock all but one of the entrances.

Earlier this afternoon, parliamentary staff were told to leave work early today if they could do so "out of an abundance of caution", as hundreds continued to occupy Parliament's lawn in breach of a trespass notice.

A police spokesperson said they were aware of a small number of protesters congregating near vehicles outside the university faculty near Parliament.

They said police were in the vicinity but had not been required to take action there last night.

This evening, Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell told Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis-Allan that Wellingtonians needed to prepare for a roadblock that could last into tomorrow and through to Sunday.

"It's my aspiration, certainly intent, with the resources that we're bringing together, to clear that passageway as soon as practically possible."

He said moving the more than 100 vehicles blocking streets near Parliament had presented a number of problems for the police, but it was a "fundamental priority".

"One of our major issues has been actually trying to acquire assets in the form of tow companies to assist us in that process. So we're still exploring a number of options and making progress there."

Parnell said they had experienced resistance to their requests from tow companies as a number of owners had received threats throughout the day.

Over the past two days, he said military assets such as heavy haulage vehicles had also been considered as another option for shifting the vehicles.

Parnell said that a lack of leadership at times or a solidified cause had been a real difficulty for police trying to negotiate with protesters.

"We always knew that this wasn't going to be a short process, there were a number of complexities there and quite frankly it's not a matter that we will be able to arrest our way out of."