15 August 2022
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Blue Baths
Enquiry
NOTE: this is a follow-up enquiry from one made in July re new MBIE advice about seismically vulnerable buildings (see here)
I'm picking this story up now it's been a month so the council will have had a chance to consider the advice.
I also have some comments to provide to the council for the right of reply (below) - as usual please advise if there are any inaccuracies (for eg "in January 2021 the council told her it was "only interested in zero risk". and Jo's contention there is a 'plan' (via her revitalisation plans) ready to go for the Blue Baths that just needs funding).
Can the council please tell me:
- What has the council considered about this advice and how will it implement the advice?
- Is it confident the closure of the Blue Baths was the right thing to do, in light of this advice? Why / why not?
For the mayor:
- Do you think its important the new council addresses the Blue Baths?
- How do you feel about the current state of the building? Are you concerned the building is deteriorating further?
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COMMENTS
Jo Romanes said the advice from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had created a "pathway forward".
She said it had provided an opportunity for councils to "take a little bit more ownership, and have a bit more confidence to a second look and just not go around putting fences up everywhere", which she said had not only happened in Rotorua but around the country.
She said when the Blue Baths closed in January 2021 the council told her it was "only interested in zero risk".
She said the MBIE guidance showed that was "a nonsense".
"Life is all about risk, it's just about managing it."
She said she also understood public organisations were wary of liability in the case something did go wrong. but in her view the guidance gave councils some license to take managed risks.
Having worked with geotechnical and structural engineers for a parked Blue Baths revitalisation project, consultants had advised her there was risk with the building but didn't believe it needed to close.
Romanes believed the Blue Baths could have remained open while a plan for its future and strengthening was actively progressed.
"The building was already in a pretty dilapidated state because we were winding down and preparing for the revitalisation. The council hadn't done any significant maintenance on it in several years. I'd stopped doing too much as well, as we neared the end of our lease. Now it's been sitting for 18 months it's deteriorated more. It wouldn't be that easy to just open it up because it's not fit for the public to go in it at the moment.”
"These buildings, when they're suddenly shut up like that, particularly without any provision to mothball, can deteriorate quite quickly.
"It is disturbing that the fence has been up for 18 months and the council are quite openly and unashamedly saying they don't have any plan."
She said she had spent about $250,000 on the revitalisation plans for the building in 2019 "in good faith" and at the invitation of the council, and that resulted in a plan for the building’s future.
Upon the project’s completion, the building would meet seismic code and operate as a “totally unique heritage venue” with capacity for 1000 people, which Romanes believed would bring great economic benefit to the region.
A resource consent had been submitted and the plan had Heritage NZ's blessing, she said.
"So all that work's been done.
"If you look at the guidance from MBIE, they say it potentially gives landlords seven years notice to progress upgrade plans, while the building remains open until work on site necessitates temporary closure.
"The council need to be looking actively at how to fund it.
"This building should be on the list. The work for the way forward has been done, now they just need to take ownership and commit”.
Response
From DCE Organisational Enablement, Thomas Collé:
We expect the future of the Blue Baths to be part of the next Long-term Plan cycle next year, when we will consider and set the work programme for the 2023-2033 period.
We are currently focussed on other priority projects and work but given its very low seismic rating and taking public safety into consideration, it’s unlikely we would consider re-opening the Blue Baths at this time.
However, we are always happy to speak with interested parties if they wish to discuss options with us directly.
Mayor Chadwick provided the following comment:
I’m sure the future of our iconic Blue Baths will come up for the next Council to consider but there are other priorities taking financial and operational precedence right now, including the museum.
The Blue Baths has always been important to Rotorua as part of its visitor destination offering and we’d all dearly love to see it re-opening at some stage.
Consideration of this new MBIE guidance is an operational matter but I’m aware that decisions to close or re-open buildings are always very carefully weighed up, with public safety at the forefront.