Ngātea Library rebuild: Registrations of interest for multimillion-dollar hub open

The Hauraki District Council building in Ngātea, pictured in 2021.

Hauraki District Council is calling for registrations of interest to build a multimillion-dollar replacement for the service centre and library at Ngātea.

The council publicly notified its intentions on Wednesday.

Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams said plans to build the new library and service centre had been in the pipeline for several years.

“The team are still in final stages of design for this, but councillors were keen to give local trades an option to express their interest now along with any others to streamline some of the process going forward.”

The Hauraki-Coromandel Post asked Adams for a budget indication, project timeline and any indications of what the new facility might look like.

Adams said the council had a budget, “but it could go under budget and the timeline is not set yet as we wait for the final designs”.

He said the council hoped to “break ground prior to Christmas, but it’s still up in the air”.

The council’s public notice said the council was seeking registrations of interest for “main contractors to carry out construction of the new library and service centre building for the Plains community, located in Ngātea township”.

Contractors that had expertise and experience with medium-scale public and commercial construction were invited to register their interest.

The opportunity would be open to sole traders, joint ventures or consortiums with relevant construction track records and capabilities.

As part of the project, the existing building would be demolished and a new purpose-built facility would be constructed at the same site within the Hugh Hayward Domain.

The Hauraki-Coromandel Post has requested a copy of the registration of interest document.

It has been more than 12 months since the council decided to reset the rebuild project budget of the Ngātea Service Centre and Library to $4.8 million.

On May 31, 2023, the council released a budget breakdown of $3,667,716 in unbudgeted expenditure, and budgeted capital expenditure of $1,132,284 from 2022/23 to the 2023/24 financial year.

Provision was made in the 2021-2031 Long-Term Plan (LTP) to upgrade the service centre and library.

An extensive engagement with the community took place in 2019/2020 to gauge its aspirations for the facility.

Hauraki District Council opted for a new build rather than an upgrade of the old building to meet modern library standards (LIANZA) and community needs.

A working party was set up to review the options for refurbishment or a rebuild of the existing council building.

An upgrade of the old facility would have meant a major renovation, including earthquake-strengthening, asbestos removal, resolving the risk of liquefaction and meeting modern accessibility and fire safety standards.

In July 2021, the council decided to build a new facility at the current location.

Adams previously said a high-level concept plan came back at a cost significantly higher than what had been budgeted for.

In 2023, construction costs had increased significantly after Covid-19 and with inflation, and as a minimum, the community hub should be the same style and quality as what was built in Paeroa and Waihī, he said, adding the council believed it could be achieved within the $4.8m budget.

Following the May 31, 2023 meeting, Adams said: “We also acknowledge the timeline has taken longer than we had hoped, but it is important to get it right and we are really looking forward to this project being started.”