A Selwyn district councillor is calling for a pause on Leeston’s $16 million community facility while the council awaits new earthquake strengthening rules.

Selwyn District councillors were given an update on the concept designs for Whata Rau, Leeston’s multipurpose library and community centre building, at a meeting on Wednesday.

Construction is due to start at the end of 2026.

Ellesmere Ward Cr Elizabeth Mundt acknowledged the Leeston community she represents has waited a long time for the project, but the council couldn’t afford to treat the project in isolation.

“I’m not one to do knee-jerk building decisions,” she said.

“I believe that we need to be a council that actually really puts in the hard graft, and I know there has been a lot of work done, but things have changed.”

The Government is proposing an overhaul of the earthquake-prone building systems, she said.

That could impact the decisions still to be made on the future of the old Leeston library and medical centre building.

The library had major problems, primarily significant water leaks and being classified as earthquake-prone, which forced it to close and relocate services to a temporary site, while awaiting Whata Rau to open.

The medical centre remains open, but the building requires remediation work, including earthquake strengthening, touted as a possible $1.9m fix-up.

Mundt hinted at a pending discussion on the future of the old library building with “some staff earmarking that for a medical facility, but that has not been a decision of councillors”.

She argued it was rash to push ahead with separate projects instead of looking at everything together and making decisions unilaterally.

“I would actually like to pause this decision and wait until we have the earthquake-prone building legislation come back to council.”

Mayor Lydia Gliddon interjected to clarify that it was a project update briefing and “we are not making a decision today”.

She said that those decisions will come through the upcoming annual plan budget process.

Mundt believed the briefing was to give staff direction on the project.

“Why would we be spending on a design at this point and moving forward, when we are still waiting for those other decisions to be made?”

Her suggestion of a pause was met with disgruntled headshaking from the community reference group members in the public gallery, who had earlier presented as part of the briefing.

Mundt was the only one to cast some doubt on the project.

Cr Aaron McGlichey had concerns about the project being good value for money, and Cr Denise Carrick felt that the budget didn’t match the population.

“I know Leeston is a service town and it does need these facilities, but I just wonder if the price that has been put on this is too high”.

Infrastructure and property executive director Tim Mason said the project is only in the concept design stage and “there is still value engineering to do through the detailed design”.

The project has a $16m budget, of which only $1.1m is development contributions, and the rest will be loan-funded, with $1.6m already spent on the project.

There is also an associated $1.1m project to build toilets and changing rooms next to the facility.

Deputy Mayor Brendan Shefford said he had the "most important" question.

“What’s the name going on the side of the building?”

It was a pointed reference to the historic debate over Rolleston’s Te Ara Ātea, a multi-use community facility including a library, not having the word library on the building signage.

After years of community uproar, the council eventually added library to the main door.

In response to Shefford, Gliddon said the name of the building is Whata Rau.

“That has been gifted by mana whenua and is relevant to the community," she said.

Gliddon said the comments at the briefing had shown the project needed further discussion leading into decisions in the annual plan, which will start with a budget briefing on December 17 and workshop on January 21.

By Jonathan Leask