Whanganui could be home to more government service centres

Whanganui may see more state service centres as the government considers the establishment of more regional hubs. Photo / Bevan Conley

The Government is considering a proposal to "reduce the footprint" of state employees based in Wellington and Auckland by establishing agencies in the regions.

Asked what this might mean for Whanganui, State Services Minister Chris Hipkins told the Chronicle preliminary discussions would be followed up with serious considerations at a later date.

"Tens of thousands of public servants work in the [Wellington] CBD.

"The guidance for the public service currently is that staff should return their usual workplace. We are exploring options to pilot regional hubs to help ease any future accommodation pressures in the CBD. I expect to receive advice on this later this year."

Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall said he is pleased to hear that regional hubs were being considered.

"It is something I have advocated for and I believe Whanganui is a perfect place to pilot regional branches," McDouall said.

"Whanganui lost around 50 government jobs under the last government and we would love to see them back."

McDouall said it made sense to move some state services out of Wellington.

"Obviously, some of them need to work in close proximity to Parliament but we are a great location for those that don't need to be in Wellington.

"And we are officially New Zealand's most beautiful city of course."

McDouall said he spoke with the government after the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake affected the Wellington CBD, suggesting it move some services to Whanganui.

"With the possibility of major seismic events affecting Wellington, it seems to make sense to spread services around the regions."

McDouall said he hoped there would be good job prospects for locals as well as existing staff able to relocate.

Whanganui & Partners interim chief executive Gaelle Deighton said she also welcomed the prospect for departments of central government relocating to Whanganui.

"We've seen thousands of people make the move to Whanganui in recent times," she said.

"They come because of the lifestyle and wonder why they didn't make the move sooner.

"As a city, we have the commercial property available and, as the economic development agency, the tools to help them make that move."

Deighton said there were many advantages to relocating to Whanganui.

"Our comparably low overheads, our connectivity to major centres alongside a workforce that don't spend two hours every day doing their commute."

Both Deighton and McDouall mentioned the recent move of 40 additional jobs into the Ministry for Social Development in Whanganui which indicated an appetite for regional appointments from central government.

"Further moves will help boost our local economy and reduce the reliance from the government on larger centres that are close to capacity," Deighton said.