Kiri Gillespie: Courthouse $100k revamp needed but why just Tauranga?

OPINION

Have you seen the often-used image of a mouse trying to find its way through a maze?

That was much like me arriving to cover a case in courtroom three at the Tauranga District Court some years ago.

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Some of the courthouse services are within the walls of the main Cameron Rd building.
Others are hosted at the nearby McLean House. Good luck to you if you don't know where to go for what.

After navigating between the two Tauranga buildings all those years ago, I eventually found courtroom three tucked away in a hallway of the main building. My relief didn't last long. Proceedings had already begun. I was late because I couldn't find the courtroom and every one – so it seemed – stopped to stare when I entered. I didn't dare try to find the toilet later that day.

So news of a $100m revamp that will help aid the "alienating and distressing" environment of the courthouse is not without warrant. Weird design aside, there are important and troublesome reasons why a new courthouse is so badly needed.

In June, a gang member was jailed for three years after filming jury members and a witness during a major drug-dealing trial at the Tauranga courthouse. The filming took place in an area near a blocked exit outside courtroom four, where, nearby, members of the public were gathering in their role as candidates for jury selection.

Last year, the Bay of Plenty Times revealed there were a raft of issues with the courthouse building on Cameron Rd, including toxic mould and decaying timber frames in the walls. Those issues have been known about in court circles for years.

So while news of the revamp is fantastic and long overdue, I have questions: Why now? And why just Tauranga?

Last year, Crown solicitor Amanda Gordon described Rotorua's "feral" courthouse as so run down, the "disgraceful" conditions compromised justice. Urgent action was called for. That was in January.

So why does Rotorua have to wait for its version of this?

Court staff have a significant and - at times - difficult job. As representatives of New Zealand's justice system, they should, at the very least have a decent workplace.

In my view, it defies belief that these courthouses were allowed to deteriorate to such a condition.