Nelson City Council has chosen a preferred site for the location of a Civic Hub, with Mayor Nick Smith describing it as "giving the public of Nelson a one finger salute".
After more than two hours, councillors finally reached the decision on Thursday to proceed with investigating a new build on Church Street as their preferred option, but it didn't have the full support of council.
Council has consulted the public on three viable, but very different, options for a combined Community Hub, Library and Civic Space development.
The three options were:
1) Redevelopment of Civic House, including purchase of the ex-State Advances building, with staff relocated during at least 24 months of construction.
2) A council-owned new build on a ground lease at Collingwood Street.
3) Purchase of properties at Church Street, Hardy Street and Selwyn Place, with a council-owned new build that could include pedestrianisation of Church Street.
Of the 1373 people who picked a preferred option during consultation, 858 chose Civic House. Collingwood St attracted 179 votes and Church St received 336.
The Collingwood St option was immediately discounted at the start of Thursday's discussion, with no councillors supporting it moving to a debate.
Mayor Nick Smith then threw his weight behind the Civic House redevelopment, even going as far as saying choosing anything else would be "giving the public of Nelson a one finger salute".
"In my view, it is the obvious answer. Going against the overwhelming submissions for Civic House and choosing the most expensive option in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis would be giving the public of Nelson a one finger salute."
Nick says the "structurally-sound" building is the right size, in the right place, and has the best access to parking and public transport.
"It's the best value for money, as it delivers 15% more building space, or about 1000 square meters more, for $15 million less cost.
"The public's message was for redeveloping Civic House by a massive margin of 62.5% to 24.5%. That's a landslide.
"Saying we'll listen and then doing the exact opposite is what's corroding people's confidence in our elected institutions."
Cr Lisa Austin agreed and said she was concerned about the effects of a possible amalgamation.
"If, after the next general election this weekend, the Government proposes amalgamation, that will add another dimension to the Civic House debate. It then becomes a joint facility? Is it a new one, and where will it be located? Is Civic House going to be the main facility in the city, or will the location change? I move that the council defer this decision until amalgamation is sorted."
But other councillors disagreed, saying while consultation was important, it is not the only thing to take into consideration.
Moving more than 300 staff to alternative locations for a period of at least two years, and the costs associated with that, was the reason why councillor Nigel Skeggs couldn't support the Civic House.
"The figure submitted is a capital estimate, it is not the true cost.
"Choosing Church Street today keeps that land open and keeps our options alive. If Church Street proves not to be viable, Civic House is still standing, and we can return to it. The reverse is not true. If we commit to Civic House today, Church Street is gone."
He was referring to various contracts in place to enable council to proceed with whichever option was chosen, conditions of which had to be met by the end of November.
"Option one has too many unknowns for us to confidently and competently walk into that space and promise our community that we're going to be able to deliver on that," Councillor Kahu Paki Paki said.
"Church Street gives us the opportunity to build something of purpose, designed for Nelson, a civic and cultural precinct alongside the museum, a place that brings people into the heart of our city, creates activity, supports surrounding businesses, and opens up new opportunities for housing in the CBD," Cr Sarah Kerby said.
Civic House being converted into inner city apartments when the council offloaded the site was an idea discussed a few times during the meeting.
Trudie Brand also spoke in support of option 3 - Church St, while Matty Anderson, said he walked into the meeting hoping to be convinced that the Church St option was the best choice.
"I know it's not a referendum," he said of community consultation. "It's a very complicated decision."
"Wherever we land, it's still going to be future-focused and be very positive."
He ultimately chose to support the Civic House redevelopment.
Cr Aaron Stallard pointed out that more than 98 per cent of the city didn't take part in the consultation process.
"We cannot say the community has decided on the site because when we look at the numbers, we have to acknowledge that whichever option we choose today, more than 98% of the people in the city did not support that option via the consultation."
"We can't pretend that the consultation feedback didn't lean towards Civic House," Cr James Hodgson added. "It would be much easier for us to roll ahead with that option if I didn't have serious concerns."
Mel Courtney declared an indirect conflict of interest due to a family connection with the Church Street option and abstained from voting.
A motion was then passed to procced with Option 3 - a new build on Church St. Only Nick, Tim and Lisa formally opposed it.
Before the formal vote, Cr Tim Skinner moved a motion that council take no further action on the Civic Hub/Library project, retain Civic House in its current form, and not enter into any land purchase or building contracts for a new civic facility. The motion was supported by Lisa.
"I fear that we've lost the trust of our community with the decision not to go out in consultation with the status quo," Tim said.
The motion was described as "ludicrous" by Kahu, and was not supported by anyone else at the table.
