Closure expected to cause “significant disruption” to court participants
The Levin District Court will be closed indefinitely from 18 November, the Ministry of Justice has announced.
The ministry said that engineers have determined that parts of the building did not meet proposed new guidelines for concrete buildings. This means that although the building meets current standards, it is being closed for strengthening. The new guidelines were issued after the partial collapse of Statistics House as a result of the 2016 Kaikourua Earthquake in the South Island.
“For the safety of our staff and other court participants, we have chosen to close the court while work to increase the strength of some connections between a floor slab and some steel beams is undertaken,” said Carl Crafar, the ministry’s chief operating officer. “I recognise that this will cause significant disruption to court participants in Levin and we are doing all we can to minimise this, changing venues and times for court hearings to the closest courthouses to Levin. If you are affected, a ministry staff member will be in touch.”
The ministry has discussed the plan and its available support for staff based at the court. It has also spoken with the judiciary and other stakeholders, it said.
