Rotorua: Toi Ohomai to close Waipā campus, move courses to Mokoia

Waipā operations will be gradually moved to Toi Ohomai's Mokoia campus this year. Photo / Andrew Warner

Tertiary institution Toi Ohomai says it will close its Waipā campus in Rotorua by the end of the year.

Courses will move to the Bay of Plenty institute’s main Rotorua campus at Mokoia, as it reviews its property portfolio and seeks to become “financially viable”.

Affected courses include wood manufacturing and saw doctoring - which will stay at Waipā this year before moving to “on-the-job” in 2026 - and the forest management diploma.

The former was proposed to be disestablished last year but the changes were made after consultation with kaimahi [staff] and external stakeholders.

Some properties ‘underutilised’

Kieran Hewitson, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology tumu whenua executive director, said Toi Ohomai needed to become “financially viable” and it was reviewing all aspects of its organisation.

Hewitson said this also applied to all other business divisions of Te Pūkenga, a network of the country’s 25 polytechnics and industry training organisations.

“Toi Ohomai has a large property portfolio, with campuses and delivery sites across the rohe. Some of our properties are underutilised with high operating costs.”

Hewitson said it was reviewing what facilities and resources were “required for delivery” which would determine what “site-specific resources” were needed.

“Throughout 2025, we will start to transition our Waipā operations to our Mokoia Campus, consolidating our Rotorua property portfolio to one campus.

The Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology Mokoia Campus in Rotorua. Photo / Andrew Warner

“We understand this may cause unease but we are committed to supporting affected kaimahi and ākonga [students] to make this a smooth transition.”

Toi Ohomai confirmed there were no expected job losses from the campus closure.

“Our focus remains on providing high-quality vocational education and training. Moving these courses to our Mokoia campus will not only add to the vibrancy of this campus but will increase access to the full range of support services for our ākonga.”

Hewitson said it had 34 ākonga at Waipā. Courses would transition to Mokoia “at appropriate times throughout the year”.

This was in addition to the 48 students enrolled in the wood manufacturing and saw doctoring block courses.

Affected courses included wood manufacturing and saw doctoring, which would still be delivered at Waipā this year until Competenz began delivering the on-the-job training from 2026, Hewitson said.

“We will also be teaching out the current diploma in forest management (level six), however, we acknowledge the importance of this qualification for industry and work is under way to explore alternative delivery modes.”

Enrolled students would finish the course but new enrolments would not be accepted, he said.

Hewitson said an external provider was leasing some Waipā campus buildings.

“We will continue to explore options for this campus.”

Hewitson said the property review was happening across the rohe and would look at the use of its buildings and ways to provide vocational education and training “in a more cost-effective way”.

Toi Ohomai was engaging with stakeholders to understand community needs and explore innovative approaches to education delivery, he said.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.