Toxic black mould - the same mould that plagued the Tauranga City Council building - was found in the building earlier this year.
Mr Plunkett said volunteers were under the impression the council might move them out in a week's time, so yesterday's urgent events came as a shock.
"They walked in at 1pm and said you have to be gone by 2pm," Mr Plunkett said.
"I'd just come in from taking my grandson to the movies."
Mr Plunket said they were fortunate they already had somewhere to relocate but the urgent shutdown of the building meant there would be no foodbank for a week. "The council has been a wonderful landlord, they really have, but things were coming to a head," he said. "The building was very, very old. There are holes in walls."
The foodbank had relocated to Brook St, behind Bigsave Furniture at Fraser Cove. Foodbank Trust members were expected to meet there today. "I'm actually quite appreciative the council has decided this is dangerous and got them out of there. Staff there are working in conditions that aren't good," Mr Plunkett said.
"We freeze in winter and cook in summer - we can work with that but not with nasty air."
Tauranga City Council chief executive Garry Poole said it received positive soil sample test results for asbestos yesterday.
"These samples were taken from the perimeter of the building, which is currently leased to the Tauranga Community Foodbank Trust," Mr Poole said.
"After receiving these results, we closed and fenced off the building as a precautionary measure until we can carry out further testing on Monday."
He said the council acted as soon as possible after the positive results came through.
"We are currently looking at temporary relocation options and seeking specialist health advice," he said. "We won't know if any of the building's contents are likely to have been affected until we have received the results of the further tests."
