Six Acres Of Govt. Offices In City, But More Needed

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29898, 11 August 1962, Page 13

Six Acres Of Govt. Offices In City, But More Needed

The amount of office space occupied by the 36 Government departments in Christchurch was about 260.000 sq ft., near enough to six acres, but there was still a pressing need for more accommodation. said Mr D. C Duff. Christchurch representative of the Public Service Commission and the Government Accomodation Board, yestera<He said that of the office space occupied by Government departments, 40 per cent. was owned by the Crown and 60 per cent was leased. Seventeen premises were owned bv the Crown and 28 were leased Mr Duff said that the mnestorey building being erected in Cathedral square for the Government Life Insurance office would provide accommodation for Government departments and there was every indication - that the Inland Revenue Department and the Tourist and Publicity Department would occupy part of the building. If the Tourist and Publicity Department moved from its present position in Cathedral Square the Post Office was anxious to take over the site Mr Duff said that the last Government building erected in Christchurch was the State wire Insurance building in 1937.

The present Government buildings in Worcester street, built in 1911, once housed al] the Government departments in Christchurch. Now the whole of the building was occupied by the Ministry of Works.

At one stage it was envisaged that there would be a government centre in the block bounded by Worcester street. Hereford street and Latimer square and a considerable amount of land had been purchased by the Crown in that area. Mr Duff said.

The site now had been changed to the land bounded by Cashel street. Cambridge •errace. Montreal street and Hereford street. Most of that land was owned by the Crown

The biggest problem facing Government departments in Christchurch was the inability to house all of the staff of a department in the one building There was another problem where staff, although in the one building, were spread all over it The State Advances Corporation appeared to be fortunate because all its staff were in a building in Hereford street, but because they were spread over four floors, the position was not very satisfactory. Some other departments

had their staff almost as farflung as the British Empire 50 years ago, he added.

The Inland Revenue Department and the Education Department were examples of the lack of office space which forced the departments to have segments of the staff in different buildings.

The main office of the Inland Revenue Department was situated in Bates' building, in Worcester street, with prefabricated buildings attached. At the rear of these buildings was an old stable which was used for sorting returns and forms. Across the road, in Worcester street, the companies section had its offices, and the income tax inspectors and wage tax inspectors had their rooms in the M.L.C. building in Manchester street. The offices of the Education Department were even more widely spread. Its main offices were in Cranmer square in the building occupied formerly by St. Margaret’s College. The Child Welfare Division was in Gloucester street; the Vocational Guidance. Country Library Service and the National Library Service in “The Press” buildings: and the physical education teachers and primary school inspectors in Kilmore street.