Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,

27 June 2018
Attention: Head of the EPB Division

Dear Sir / Madam

On the 13 April this year the Southland Museum and Art Gallery (SMAG) was closed indefinitely - after three days’ notice to the general public. The closure was a result of SMAG receiving a notice from the Invercargill City Council (ICC) Chief Executive advising that they were going to withdraw their staff forthwith due to the museum building being considered as earthquake prone.

Without the ICC staff the SMAG Board had no option but to close the museum.

The museum building is owned by the SMAG Trust and managed by the ICC.

As far as we can ascertain the museum building (108 Gala Street, Invercargill) has not been listed on the National Register of EPB by the ICC. One of the reasons given by the Chief Executive for this not being done to-date is that “as the Government is still providing guidance and updating the checklists to be used, the Council is not yet in a position to classify a building as earthquake prone”.

The section in italics above is lifted directly from the ICC Chief Executives report dated 9 April, Page 3 (which is part reproduced for your convenience below). In short the report stated that the building was considered as being earthquake prone and as such recommended to Council that the ICC staff be withdrawn without any delay.
With regard to the above would you please advise: -

- Specifically, what guidance and checklists you are presently preparing – or are yet
to prepare – to allow the ICC to classify the museum building as earthquake prone.
- what is the expected time-frame for you to provide this information to the ICC

As a related aside please advise the number of buildings nationwide presently on the EPB Register.

Thank you for your assistance with this matter and we look forward to your prompt reply.
Yours sincerely,

Brian Denny & Douglas Black

Part Page 3 of Chief Executives report to the Invercargill City Council on 9 April 2018 reads as follows: -

The Building Act 2004 (through its 2017 amendments) contains the earthquake-prone building provisions and sets out the scope of buildings to which those provisions apply. In 2017 Invercargill City was identified as a medium seismic risk area. This identification has meant that building owners have 12½ years to either fix or demolish their building following its identification as earthquake prone. It is the local territorial authority that must determine if a building is earthquake-prone.

The Invercargill City Council has identified priority areas for investigation (refer to Appendix 1). This shows that the Museum building will likely be considered by Council staff to determine whether it is earthquake-prone by the end of 2020.

The process for identification of an earthquake prone building by the Invercargill City Council is likely to be that the Development Liaison Manager assesses the engineers report against a checklist to determine if the building is earthquake-prone.

The Council has not yet delegated the authority to make this decision to an officer of the Council and, as the Government is still providing guidance and updating the checklists to be used, the Council is not yet in a position to classify a building as earthquake-prone.

Notwithstanding this legal process, the Chief Executive considers it inappropriate to continue occupation of the building without recognition of the engineers’ advice. Council as occupier and service provider within the building should not delay decision making, purely on the basis that Council has not issued an appropriate notice under the Building Act.

The Southland Museum and Art Gallery building is owned by the Southland Museum and Art Gallery Trust.

SOUTHLAND MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY

Management Contract

In 2004 the Southland Museum and Art Gallery Trust Board entered into a contract with the Invercargill City Council to manage the Southland Museum on its behalf. The staff who operate and manage the Southland Museum are employed by the Invercargill City Council. The Chief Executive is ultimately accountable for the staff at the Museum.
The i-SITE located at the Museum is operated by Venture Southland on behalf of the Invercargill City Council. Venture Southland does not employ staff; the employees of the iSITE are also Invercargill City Council staff.
Seismic Assessment
In 2013 a seismic assessment of the museum building was undertaken by Opus International Consultants. The report described the museum as consisting of three older buildings ……….