Ashburton District Council admin staff have had their move to Te Whare Whakatere, the new library and civic building, delayed because of an issue with the air conditioning on the top floor.

This latest development will not delay the library’s move and everything is on track for the library team to be working from the ground floor and first floor as planned from 22 January 2024. The Ashburton Library will close for three weeks from 1 January 2024 while its books and other resources are moved to Te Whare Whakatere.

Over 100 admin staff were expecting to move into the new building on Monday 18 December, but testing late last week revealed the top floor air conditioning was not working as intended.

Chief Executive Hamish Riach said the temperature on the top floor of the building needed to be safely regulated before staff moved in.

“It’s very frustrating and disappointing to have this delay for our complete occupation of Te Whare Whakatere, but we’ve made the call to postpone the move by admin staff until at least 22 January.

“The air conditioning issue is confined to the top floor and the contractor is already busy fixing it. The issue only became apparent when the system was going through commissioning, and we are ensuring that the cost of getting it right will not be passed on to ratepayers.”

Mr Riach said the delay for admin staff would not change any public-facing roles, with residents still able to visit Council at Baring Square West and talk to council staff.

“What it does mean is that many of our admin team, which includes regulatory, finance, roading, infrastructure assets, human resources, communications and property teams, will continue to work remotely, as they have been successfully doing for the past three weeks.

“It is disappointing, but we’d rather have everything working as it is intended before moving in.”

The blessing for Te Whare Whakatere planned for 15 December has been postponed, along with a staff induction day.