About this decision
We have decided on how we will strengthen the Central Library, now we are seeking feedback on how to fund the upgrade.
What's the background to this decision?
Wellington’s much-loved Central Library was closed in March 2019 following an engineering assessment saying that the way the floor was designed presented a high level of potential failure in a significant earthquake. It has a similar floor design to one used in the now demolished Statistics House, where a floor collapsed in the Kaikoura earthquakes.
In 2020, we ran a six-week consultation in which we asked for public feedback on five options for restoring a Central Library service in Te Ngākau Civic Square. The options all considered the resilience of the building, future proofing the library service, the connection to Te Ngākau, and the overall costs.
After consulting with Wellingtonians Council agreed to recommend the high-level remediation option to be part of this plan. This option, repairs the building’s structural issues to the highest extent possible. It will integrate with Te Ngākau Civic Square and the surrounding streets. It also allows us to mitigate some climate change impacts in the future.
There are three options
| Option 1: Strengthen now by temporarily exceeding the debt limit (preferred) | Option 2: Council to strengthen Central Library later | Option 3: Strengthen now by increasing rates further | ||
This option repairs the building’s structural issues to the highest extent possible. It includes base isolating the building. Base isolation means the building would likely be safe to occupy during and after a significant earthquake. The building’s heritage value will be retained, and it will integrate more with Te Ngākau Civic Precinct.In this option our debt level will remain at 225%, but Council has agreed to accept the breach in the first three years of this plan to enable to project to be completed. This breach will be mitigated by any capital not spent being used for the library project rather than on new projects. Our debt level will be back below our limit by year 4 – 2024/25 | This option will repair the building’s structural issues in the same manner as in Option 1, however this option does not exceed the Council’s debt limit. As in Option 1 the full costs of this project will fall to Council, but in this option the project would be delayed until a period of the Long-term Plan when there is sufficient borrowing capacity, for the project to go ahead. This means Council would remain under its debt limit with this option. In this option the Central Library would reopen in 2028, instead of 2025. | This option will repair the building’s structural issues in the same manner as in Option 1, and allows for the remediation to happen as per the original timeframe (open 2025). However, this option does include an extra 3% rates increase above the 13.5% in year 1. The increase in rates will allow the Council to rapidly pay down more of the additional debt that it has taken on | ||
| Capital cost and debt impact: $187.4m | Capital cost and debt impact: $195m | Capital cost and debt impact: $187.4m capex cost and $177.1m debt impact | ||
| Rates change: 0.79% 3 year average increase | Rates change: 0.83% 3 year average increase | Rates change: 1.79% 3 year average increase |
Our preferred option
The Council prefers Option 1: Strengthen now by temporarily exceeding the debt limit. This includes the Council agreeing to temporarily breach its debt limit of 225% to ensure the library can be refurbished in the original timeframe and remain in public ownership. Our debt level will remain at 225%, and Council has agreed to accept the breach in the first three years of this plan.
Want to know more about our 7 big decisions? Head back to our Long-term Plan homepage or read our full consultation document.
