Working on the Timeline - Bulls Community Centre

Now that we have a realistic budget in place for the Bulls Community Centre, it is time to address the timeline that will take us through to the completion of the Centre.

Construction was halted for the duration of the COVID-19 Level 3 and 4 lockdown. This situation affected infrastructure and building construction across the whole country. And of course, no one can be blamed for this. The lockdown meant an automatic six week delay for the project.

But with the lifting of level 3 lockdown, limited construction was able to resume. And while workers were back on site they were operating under a raft of restrictions that meant the rate of construction was much slower than normal.

The basic social distancing rules under level 2 meant workers had to make sure they kept a metre space between each other; and hand and equipment sanitising was also necessary. These arrangements stayed in place until alert level 1, which meant work under the previous levels didn’t flow as smoothly or as speedily as it usually would.

Other work however continued during the lockdown period. Firstly, an interior designer has been employed to take charge of all things interior – from colours to curtains to signs. This will result in a cohesive and consistent look and feel for the Centre.

Secondly, a Cultural Designer has been engaged. They will help us to bring to the Community Centre a design and decor that reflects the inclusive and multicultural nature of Bulls and the Rangitīkei District.

Finally work continued designing a bus lane to the rear of the building and a town square to the front, for future Council consideration.

So with these time considerations in mind, Council is planning for the construction of

the Bulls Community Centre to be completed by the end of July 2020. There will be a period after that for ‘fit-out and moving in’ and a public/community opening will be planned for September.

We have listened to your feedback and we agree the need to keep everyone up to date with progress on this project, so regular updates will be posted on Council’s website; our Rangitīkei Connect page in the District Monitor; and on our social media channels.