Ag 03 november, 2017

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Friday, Nov 3, 2017

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Cooking up a fan base Celebrity cook and food writer Annabel Langbein was in town yesterday. www.guardianonline.co.nz

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Brothers in tyres P3

PHOTO KATIE TODD 021117-KT-037

New civic centre project ramps up BY SUE NEWMAN

SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ

IN TODAY’S GUARDIAN

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A giant step has been taken in a project that will see Ashburton’s new civic centre and library built in Baring Square east. For several weeks the Ashburton District Council has been in negotiations with the Methodist Church and a private land owner to secure the two properties it needed for the new complex. This will be a co-build, bringing both facilities under one roof. Council business services manager Paul Brake confirmed yesterday the council was now well advanced with the deal, with conditional sale and purchase agreements signed. Two of the properties are owned by

the church but exclude the church itself and the other one is 243 Havelock Street. Land owned by the council, currently home to the old county council building and another Havelock Street site are also in the mix. “An additional property at 255 Havelock Street has recently come on the market and the council considered it opportune to buy this to assist in the future-proofing of the development, Brake said. The council has an unconditional purchase agreement on this property. It will continue to be leased to current tenants but in the future will need significant earthquake strengthening if it is to be retained, he said. Planning for a new civic building has

been in the council’s long term plan for several years, but the process gained momentum last year with several rounds of community consultation over site options. Baring Square east was the number one choice of consultants Opus after a site ranking process that narrowed options down to three locations. Last year the council renovated the upper level of the old county council building to create a new meeting chamber and meeting rooms to allow staff offices to be built in the Baring Square west civic building’s meeting rooms.

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