The water-damaged Leeston Library and Service Centre in Canterbury will be demolished, while the Leeston Medical Centre will remain in place.

Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon confirmed the council made the decision to proceed with the demolition during in the public excluded part of Wednesday’s meeting.

“The library portion of the building will be demolished, which is where the unsanitary building notice sits.”

The project includes the remediation of the wall that separates the library and medical centre, she said.

“There will also be some improvements to the medical centre to enable them to carry on.”

The council had budgeted $1.9m for the demolition and remediation works in the long-term plan, which has now been increased to $2.2m, Gliddon said.

The project budget includes asbestos removal, the demolition and the remediation of the site, she said.

The library and service centre half of the building closed in March 2025 after routine roof repairs and further assessments revealed substantial water ingress, and it was subsequently deemed an unsanitary building.

The library found a temporary home while it awaits the construction of Whata Rau, the $16m library and community centre project.

It is scheduled to start next year, but the project is set to be reviewed by the council through the annual plan.

The medical centre and Plunket rooms remain in the other half of the building and will continue to operate after the demolition of the library.

The impending demolition decisions had been divulged earlier that day at the finance and performance committee meeting, before the council decision to proceed with the demolition had been made later that afternoon.

A staff report on the capital projects and performance outlined that “procurement of designers for projects such as Whata Rau and Leeston Medical Centre demolition are currently being planned, aiming for engagement of these services in February/March”

Cr Elizabeth Mundt had pointed out the statement's inclusion.

Mundt asked it the decision made on Wednesday would take effect immediately to seek designers when “Whata Rau is coming back to us for the annual plan”.

“so how’s that panning out with the procurement for a designer of Whata Rau if it’s an annual plan decision?”

Staff explained that the report was written in early January, “before any decisions had been made”.

“Since then, other decisions have been made, and things will change based on decisions made”.

The report also highlighted the increased $2.2m budget and stated the demolition of the library and site remediation was scheduled to run from August 2026 to June 2027.

By Jonathan Leask