Source: Radio New Zealand
Councillors voted on Wednesday to scrap the planned Helpet Block site and use the land for other – yet to be determined – purposes. SUPPLIED / LDR
A planned emergency services hub in central Rolleston in Canterbury has been scrapped.
Selwyn District Council had been working with police, Fire and Emergency, and St John since 2023 to a build a joint emergency services campus for New Zealand’s fastest-growing district on undeveloped land in the town.
But councillors voted on Wednesday to scrap the planned Helpet Block site and use the land for other – yet to be determined – purposes.
Council executive director of building, planning, and regulatory services Robert Love said money for the project was not available.
“Generally I’d say the agencies are very supportive of the campus idea, the land was operationally suitable for the purpose, but due to funding issues and an ageing infrastructure stock for all those agencies they haven’t been able to prioritise the development of the campus at this time,” he said.
“That would leave a prime block of land in the core of Rolleston undeveloped for an unknown period of time.”
Councillors still supported such a hub, as a council report said current emergency services were no longer fit for purpose in Selwyn due to rapid population growth.
“The current emergency response occurs out of multiple separate sites, of which there is a large variance of facility age, capacity, and capability. Selwyn has experienced consistently high growth for the last 15 years with this high growth expected to continue for a foreseeable future,” the report said.
Councillors agreed to investigate other sites in Rolleston for the joint campus.
Selwyn mayor Lydia Gliddon said it was unclear when it would be built.
“It’s really hard to get government agencies all aligned in their planning and funding cycles and so we need to assess where are the pieces of land in Rolleston that are appropriate for this to be and then re-establish those connections and those conversations,” she said.
“We recognise it is very important that these services are strong and well maintained within our community.”
The report recommended councillors agree to repurpose the available land on the Helpet Block site for housing.
Love said that would support the growth of Rolleston and potentially provide an economic return to ratepayers in the short term.
But councillors did not want to commit to that yet and instead agreed to take more time to consider what it should be used for.
Councillor Sarah Barnsley said the council’s decision did not change the need for an emergency services campus in Selwyn.
“I am satisfied despite the land being available it’s not necessarily the ideal location for that emergency services hub being a high residential area with significant noise and disruption for that community and certainly the timing doesn’t seem like it is lining up between the stakeholders to this project,” she said.
“Hopefully with a wee bit more time it might give central government time to consider what an asset this would to a fast-growing district.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
