Southland Museum: Council opts for most expensive option

A design drawing of Te Unua - Museum of Southland, which will be built to plan amid a multi-million dollar budget blowout.

Southland will get its new museum with all the trimmings.

On Tuesday, councillors voted to progress with the final design for Te Unua Museum of Southland — the most expensive option available amid a looming overspend.

A public consultation was recently undertaken on whether the council should pare back the project or cough up the additional $13 million required to progress with the plan, which would push the final bill to $87 million.

The public gave their preference for the more expensive option ahead of removing Green Star sustainability accreditation, delaying the car park, or reducing the digital-to-static ratio of the experience.

Much of Tuesday’s deliberation centered on the details of Green Star accreditation before Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell moved the status quo.

He said he had come to the meeting with the intention of cost-saving but had realised a lot of work had already gone into the design.

A mood of “just get on and do it” had come through in his discussions with the public, he said.

Councillor Darren Ludlow said altering the project would only result in minimal savings.

“We will actually have a generation of kids who have grown up in Invercargill without a museum.

“And we owe it to them, their kids, and their parents to make sure we’re giving them something that is worth the wait.”

In opting to stand by the more expensive option, the council has backtracked on the recommendation it gave during consultation to remove Green Star accreditation and delay the carpark.

This point was highlighted by councillor Lesley Soper, who said the council had been responsible in handling the issue.

“What we’ve got back from the public, and what I’m absolutely convinced by, is the ‘do it once and do it right’,” she said.

Removing Green Star accreditation would have shaved $900,000 off the additional $13 million the council will now pay while removing the accreditation as well as delaying the car park would have saved $2.4 million.

On top of the additional $13 million for the project, the council is still working to secure $6.6 million of external funding which it has agreed to underwrite.

Thirty-six per cent of people who responded during consultation chose the original plan as their top choice while dropping Green Star and delaying the carpark emerged as the favourite based on ranked preference.

Tuesday’s motion passed with just councillor Ria Bond voting against it.

Councillor Ian Pottinger — who has been a vocal critic of the overspend — was absent.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air