High-rise civic centre scuttles Henderson's small-town image

Waitakere's eco-friendly civic centre will house 700 workers. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

Henderson's country town image is in for a dramatic change as its highest-rising office building prepares to open for 700 council workers and 50,000 customers.

Carrying out a plan to trigger the redevelopment of Henderson, the Waitakere City Council will open for business in the $38.5 million civic centre on July 21.

And in living up to its "eco city" tag, the council chose a green roof to top the five storeys. A thick 500sq m bed of native plants and soil will hold rainwater and soften the impact of stormwater into a nearby stream.

The green roof's cost of $450,000 added to the storm of criticism which Mayor Bob Harvey and the council weathered over its decision four years ago to move the council head office from Lincoln Rd, a commercial area.

Creeping costs of the project - about $2 million more than the contract price - also drew criticism.

These included contingency add-ons such as armoured security for the drive-by-service cash-receiving window, a staff smoking shelter and baby-feeding facility for staff use.

City development committee chairwoman Penny Hulse said the building reflected the council's wish to show a lead in using energy-saving devices.

"But the biggest challenge was in putting our money where our mouth is and saying we are going to put in a building of that size with the bare minimum of carparks.

"We are now being accused by business of undermining our own district plan rules by having so few car-parks."

The civic centre is next to another construction project - a transport hub dubbed "Son of Britomart" which will straddle a double-track railway line to Auckland and be served by buses, taxis and a park-and-ride lot.

The name Waitakere Central has been given to both the transport interchange, which is near the historic Henderson Station, and the civic centre, which is on the site of a former paper factory in Henderson Valley Rd.

A $5.4 million bridge is being built over the railway line to link the civic centre, the transport interchange, on Railside Ave, and the business hub.

"The idea is to encourage staff and visitors to come to town by rail or bus," said Ms Hulse, who hopes to travel by train to council meetings from her home in Swanson.

Councillor Ewen Gilmour said he would take the train from New Lynn.

"I haven't had a tour of the building but I've passed it ... I think it's a huge step forward for the city because that's us moving into a multistorey building in the heart of town."

Henderson community board chairwoman Elizabeth Grimmer was concerned that residential streets would bear the brunt of new pressure for council staff carparking needs and overflow from a 120-space park-and-ride lot.

Parking would become tighter as the council extended its $3-a-day charge at its public carparks. She did not think visitors would have problems parking at the civic centre.

"Waitakere City people don't care who the sign says it's for ... if they need to get somewhere, they park there."

The Waitakere council is promoting Henderson as a key central town centre in the city of 180,000 people.