Work to improve and strengthen Whakatāne District Council’s main office building is progressing well.

Last week (2 July), Council’s Projects and Services Committee met to discuss the next phase of the project, with the contract for the construction awarded to Alaska Ltd.

Projects and Services Committee Chair, Gerard van Beek says six of the nine sub-contractors are local businesses within the Whakatāne District. “It’s been an important goal of the project to keep the investment as local as possible,” he says. “The project will almost entirely see money going back into Bay of Plenty businesses, with a large portion here in the Eastern Bay.” 

The significant upgrade of the main Whakatāne District Council office began early in 2022 with the key earthquake-strengthening component the first ‘cab off the rank’.

The project was approved through Council’s Long Term Plan 2021-31 after it was agreed necessary to address issues and concerns with the building, and make a range of improvements to ensure it will be fit-for-purpose into the future. 

The offices were vacated towards the end of 2021 and staff have taken up temporary accommodation throughout the CBD. Work began shortly after the Christmas break with the demolition phase. This saw much of the building – built in 1987 – stripped to enable the instalment of catcher brackets to the building’s mid-floor to improve its earthquake safety rating and stability. 

Councillor van Beek explains that the brackets are designed to be retrofitted to existing buildings to ensure the mid-floor cannot drop in the event of an earthquake. “Fitting them hasn’t been a simple task and requires specialist skills and equipment to engineer, identify and install the strengthening solution.

“The project has reached the point now where the entire first floor has been drilled and is ready for the placement of the brackets which have been tailored and engineered locally by BW Engineering.”
Councillor van Beek notes that the current phase of the redevelopment reflects Council’s drive to ensure the project keeps its focus of providing a safe and healthy environment for Council staff, and keeping the investment as local as possible. 

“Councils essentially operate as a number of businesses under one roof,” he notes. “It’s critical that staff are provided with a safe and healthy workplace where they can do their best work, so our communities benefit in return.”