Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk visits Whanganui to discuss earthquake strengthening

The balancing act involved with earthquake strengthening and protecting heritage buildings was on the agenda when Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk visited Whanganui.

During his day-long visit to the River City on Tuesday, Penk met with Whanganui District Council and members of the building and development community to discuss challenges around earthquake strengthening.

Penk said the seismic risk settings meant that in many cases, people would be unable to afford to do the work involved in strengthening buildings.

“We need to make the rules as simple and as clear as possible; of course, there’s a life safety element as well as a heritage element.”

Whanganui’s many heritage buildings were important to protect the character of the city as a whole, he said.

“We can see just looking around us now, it’s so beautiful, and clearly that means something to an area like Whanganui.”

Heritage buildings could promote the economic value of tourism and also contribute to the mood of a place, but there was a fair question to be asked about whether that cost should be spread across more different entities rather than falling on private owners, he said.

However, looking hard at restrictions imposed by buildings with heritage status was also necessary due to the need for housing, he said.

“There’s a strong moral case for prioritising building work that provides housing, particularly because we can’t have so many Kiwis homeless or in long-term temporary accommodation.”

In some cases, there were heritage buildings where the owners could not afford to do up to meet the current standards and would end up as derelict eyesores, he said.

“That’s going backwards in terms of those intangible benefits of heritage status.”

Councils were in an interesting position due to them having to enforce the rules but also owning many heritage buildings themselves.

Penk said in general terms, the seismic risk settings needed to be more realistic so people could have the practical ability to do the work.

He said building settings would be a hot topic of conversation in his meeting with councillors.

“We want to make it easier, cheaper and more certain so that people have the confidence to invest in building.”

The seismic system would be under review but the Government could potentially bring that date forward, he said.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.