Decision will cost taxpayers $2M

Press, 19 August 1983, Page 11

Decision will cost taxpayers $2M

Parliamentary reporter A decision to offer the use of spare accommodation at Christchurch Teachers’ College to the Post Office will cost taxpayers about $2 million. That is the difference in saving between use of the space by the Post Office and its use by Christchurch Polytechnic.

The Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, said yesterday that educational reasons had overruled monetary savings in his decision not to make the polytechnic use the space. At a meeting in May polytechnic representatives had made a good case for continuing with a building programme at the polytechnic’s own site, instead of using the teachers’ college space.

About 25005 q m of classrooms and offices will be spare at the college next

year because of reductions in teacher training.

The Post Office will use the space for training technicians, although the Cabinet directed last year that it be used for tertiary education.

In a report to Mr Wellington on the day of his meeting with the polytechnic representatives, the Education Department strongly recommended that the space be used by the polytechnic.

The report was obtained by “The Press” after being requested under provisions of the Official Information Act.

It says that $3 million would be saved on the polytechnic’s building programme if the polytechnic used the space.

This was contrasted with the $1 million saved by the Post Office through not having to establish a technician

training centre. The report says that the Post Office’s proposal was not the most effective use of the teachers’ collge facili- » ties. “This department con- Ysiders the polytechnic's oc- f cupation of surplus and B.’ shared-use space to be the most desirable option,” it says.

The college’s registrar, Mr A. R. Donnithorne, said the college council knew 7; there was surplus space at . the complex in Dovedale Avenue and believed it Y should be used.

“The Post Office intends using it for training pur- - - poses and we believe there will be up to 100 trainees Y there at a time eventually. We are pleased that the space will be used for a similar purpose to the rest Y of the complex. The two should be very compatible," B said Mr Donnithorne.