Marlborough council office at ‘maximum capacity’ as staff numbers grow

Marlborough’s council building is running out of desk space, but the chief executive doesn’t think they are “desperate" for an extension or new build yet.

Instead, council had been looking looking at working from home or hot desking – where people share workstations on alternate shifts.

The service needs for different departments, such as the council’s people and capability team, legal services, and finance department, were outlined in a series of reports ahead of the 2024-25 budget.

One of those reports, on the structure for services and operations for the next financial year, was presented to the council by economic, community and support services manager Dean Heiford.

Dean said the number of full-time employees at the council had increased 19 per cent in five years.

An unintended consequence of that was the staff offices on Seymour St were now at maximum capacity.

At this stage, there was no intention of increasing the number of staff on the services and operations team, which Dean dubbed an “enablement team”, even though the team had to support a larger number of staff.

The team had the full-time equivalent of 12.4 staff in customer services, 2.6 in office services, and 7 in secretarial services.

“Unfortunately, this enablement team is directly proportionate to the number of people, the number of desks, the number of floors, the number of buildings,” he said.

“You do more of that, you need more support, to try and make it as efficient and effective as possible.”

While there was extra space in the form of meeting rooms, Dean said he did not want to turn these into offices if he could help it.

Wairau-Awatere ward councillor Gerald Hope asked when management considered the appropriate time to look at expanding the facilities for “adequate working spaces”.

He added that the “tearoom” councillors used was not adequate either.

“I don't know of any council that doesn't have workspaces, hot desk or otherwise, for the council,” Gerald said.

“What plan have you got?”

Marlborough District Council chief executive Mark Wheeler said one of the issues had been the uncertainty around Three Waters.

“If Three Waters had carried on under Labour, we would have lost all those people downstairs over the next couple of years – they would have moved to their own premises.

"That would have freed up a lot of space,” Mark said. “I don't think we are desperate at this stage."

Mark said it was a "very tough" long-term plan (LTP) year.

"We're looking at a very high rate increase, and there are not a lot of areas in which we can reduce costs if we want to maintain levels of service.”

He said budgeting for a new building or extension was “up to the council."

“If council want to budget for a $20m building potentially, or a building addition, maybe it's not that much, but they're expensive things to add on. I don't think the time's right for that. But it is coming.

“If you said you want that to happen, then we can start planning for it.”

But Gerald said it should be “the other way around”.

“You know your staff, you know the projections,” he said.

Mark clarified they could “cope in the short term”, and it would take at least two years to plan a new building or extension.

“There are ways – working from home, all those things. But it is tight.

“We're waiting out the coalition to decide on Three Waters.”