Earthquake risk suddenly forces Nelson courthouse to close for four months

The courthouse in Nelson is to close for four months from Sunday following a report that shows parts of the building do not meet seismic strength requirements. Photo / Tracy Neal

The courthouse in Nelson, which underwent a $10 million rebuild 15 years ago, is to close for up to four months from this Sunday, due to a newly discovered earthquake risk.

Court staff were told at an emergency meeting this morning and legal representatives informed by email, seen by NZME, that parts of the building were found to meet only 15% of the seismic strength code.

A statement from the Ministry of Justice confirmed the findings of an initial seismic assessment, received by the ministry in recent days, assessed the courthouse as being at 15% of the New Building Standard (NBS).

Detailed planning was under way to minimise the impact on court operations, the ministry’s chief operating officer Carl Crafar said.

“Some scheduled court events will continue virtually while some other events may need to be rescheduled.

“Anyone who is expected to attend court during the remediation work period should await instruction from court officials,” Crafar said.

Engineers found the courthouse could continue to be occupied, but the connection between the original courthouse and the extension created during the rebuild was a safety concern.

Crafar said that on that basis the ministry felt it prudent to vacate the entire complex while remediation work was carried out.

“Our plan is to complete the remediation work as quickly and as safely as possible to enable normal operations at the courthouse to resume,” he said.

Crafar said that addressing the potential critical structural weakness would improve the building’s performance in the event of a significant earthquake.

“Protecting the safety of everyone who spends time in the building – including members of the public, the judiciary and staff – is our highest priority,” he said.

The redeveloped courthouse was opened in November 2010 by then Courts Minister Georgina te Heuheu.

She said the redeveloped courthouse had been designed to meet the needs of the Nelson community well into the future.

It contained five courtrooms – two designed for jury trials with jury retirement rooms, and one family courtroom – two mediation/hearing rooms and 10 interview rooms.

Te Heuheu said the large glass areas fronting a street were “symbolic of the transparency of our court system”, and the building had a distinct civic character.

One of the greatest benefits of the building was that it allowed the Disputes and Tenancy Tribunals to operate under the same roof as the combined District and High Court and Nelson Collections Unit.

A foundation stone laid on the site more than 150 years ago has been incorporated into the redesign, and a time capsule was placed in one of the walls of the building’s foyer.

The capsule contained a variety of historical treasures such as coins, old copies of the Nelson Evening Mail newspaper, copies of the 1974 and 2009 Nelson phone books, and court forms.

The city has had a court since 1842, and the Nelson Courthouse was also used as a polling station during the general election that saw New Zealand women cast their vote for the first time.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.