On Tuesday, Auckland Council agreed to sell seven of its buildings as a key component of its Corporate Property Strategy.
This is a significant value for money moment for Auckland Council, saving $117 million and making the organisation smarter, more nimble and better placed to serve Aucklanders now and in the future.
While the headlines in some of the media focus on the sale of the buildings, the bigger picture is about how this will improve services to Aucklanders and ensure the council delivers for the region.
Mayor Phil Goff said, “It’s a triple win, saving Auckland’s ratepayers $117 million dollars by reducing Council's office space which is equivalent to 8 per cent of rates.
“We will end up with more accessible and people-friendly offices for the public to access the council, such as service centres and local boards, and better working conditions for staff and improved productivity.
“This decision delivers benefits to ratepayers, people using Council services and our staff from having a single Council operating more effectively,” Phil Goff said.
Finance and Performance Committee Chair, Councillor Ross Clow says, “In making this decision, local communities have been top of mind.
“Auckland is a big city and residents need to be able to deal with their council face-to-face. The corporate property strategy ensures that all service centres remain open and the strong connection between council and its local communities remains.”
So what will the differences be? We take a closer look at the impact this will have.
Council will be more available for you
Aucklanders will have more opportunities to interact with the council, which is moving to a ‘Hub and Spoke’ building model. This means there will be:
- three 'hubs' in the north/west, south and central regions, which will be the main office locations for operational employees.
- the hubs will be supported by permanent 'spokes', which are flexible drop-in spaces that can be used by office-based employees to increase the council's presence around the region for Aucklanders. These will use back office spaces in other council buildings, such as libraries and leisure centres.
At the same time, all 23 of the council’s customer service centres and 21 local board facilities will remain across the Auckland region, and public access to council regulatory services will be available in all 13 wards, rather than in only half which is the current situation.
It also means 96 per cent of Auckland’s population will now be within 10kms of a council office, making it easier to interact with the council.
It means we save money
Many of the buildings to be sold are old and in need of significant maintenance. In fact, if the council kept them they would have to spend around $200 million on servicing the buildings over the next decade, and $117 million of that isn’t budgeted for.
If the buildings are kept, then either rates increases or debt would have been used to fill the financial shortfall.
And the benefits don’t end there. The proceeds of the sales will be ring-fenced and reinvested back into the council property portfolio across the region for maintenance and the creation of more modern facilities, enabling us to better serve Aucklanders.
Size matters
The council currently operates from around 104,000 m2 of office space.
More than 40,000 m2 (that’s bigger than the council’s Albert Street building) of office space is actually no longer required and is not being used.
By releasing that unnecessary space, we can focus our efforts only on what we need, spend what we can afford and maintain only what is required.
Region-wide benefits
But what’s in it for your local area? Under the new model all of Auckland will be better served. Here’s how:
North-West
Currently: Three office buildings (Orewa, Takapuna and Henderson)
This will change to:
- One main office building in Westgate or Albany
- 11 spokes - drop in workspaces
- three new Customer Service Centres (based in the same areas)
- two new Local Board offices, one for Rodney ratepayers in their local board area and the other for Devonport-Takapuna ratepayers
- 29 refreshed back office workspaces for staff in libraries and recreation centres.
Central
Currently: Three main office buildings (Albert St, Bledisloe House and Graham st)
This will change to:
- Just two Main office buildings (Albert St and Bledisloe House)
- Seven spokes - drop in workspaces
- One reconfigured customer service centre at Bledisloe House
- 14 refurbished back office workspaces for staff in libraries and recreation centres.
South
Currently: Four main office buildings: (Manukau Civic, Kotuku House, Papakura and Pukekohe)
This will change to:
- One main office building (Manukau Civic building)
- Seven spokes - drop in workspaces
- Three new customer service centres at Manukau, Papakura and Pukekohe
- Two new local board offices at Franklin and Papakura
- 35 refurbished back office workspaces for staff in libraries and recreation centres.
