No justice in new district court

Central Government’s decision detrimental to community, says Upper Hutt Mayor, Wayne Guppy.

UPPER HUTT, Wellington NZ, 26 MAR 2013—Mayor Wayne Guppy has condemned the Government’s decision to consolidate the court services of Lower and Upper Hutt. He believes that the closure of the Upper Hutt court places the community at a disadvantage and neglects the social responsibility of the community. He also questions the analysis of the impacts of the decision made by the Ministry of Justice, claiming their rationale for the Upper Hutt court’s closure lacks factual evidence.

“The Ministry of Justice needs to review their decision to close the Upper Hutt Courthouse. They have created a significant problem for a community who already pays a huge social responsibility by housing the largest prison in the region.” says Mayor Guppy.

“The community of Upper Hutt was given a convenient excuse by the Ministry that the courthouse was prone to risk of damage by earthquake but the actual cost to mitigate this risk through repair was never evidenced. The decision to merge the two courthouses has been on their agenda for many years and the Ministry has taken advantage of the temporary seismic assessment closure to actuate their plans. Now our community is left to manage the impacts of this decision, which are far more significant than the Ministry has led us to believe.”

A report of the ‘Establishment of the Hutt Valley District Court – Design Plan’ has recently been made available to the Upper Hutt City Council. This report highlights the many issues experienced by its residents in accessing the wide variety of court services. It suggests a significant number of physical and likely costly changes that need to be made to the Lower Hutt courthouse buildings to accommodate the increased volume of judicial activity, as it would now become the eighth largest in New Zealand. In addition to these changes, the Ministry now must look to fill the service gaps left by their departure from Upper Hutt City.

Ministry of Justice officials have highlighted a need to increase internet access to court proceedings. Their solution is to fund a suite of six computers in the Upper Hutt Central Library. This may seem like a generous offer; however library staff would have to be trained to show customers how to access the correct information. Coupled with this is the restriction of space within the library for its core community services, and the obvious impacts to the library environment with housing judicial services.

“Recently, one of our library team members spent over half an hour with a court client helping them to access disputes tribunal information. “ says Mayor Guppy. “These issues would be quadrupled if the Council decided to take up the Ministry of Justices computer suite offer, and local rate payers would end up footing the bill as more library staff are required to provide a service which is a direct result of a decision from a misguided Ministry.”

“The Ministry has left the community unsupported, without any consideration that some of our most vulnerable residents will simply not be able to access services because they are either internet-based or located elsewhere. The Ministry of Justice has already closed their post office box in Upper Hutt and hasn’t even redirected their mail, meaning that even the most basic form of communication with the residents of Upper Hutt has been severed. Social agencies are now asking for money to help fund support services to fill the gap that the Ministry has left. Our community now has very little faith in the Ministry of Justice.”

Mayor Guppy declined to attend the official opening of the Hutt Valley District Court on Monday.

ENDS

About Upper Hutt City Council
Upper Hutt City Council is the steward and custodian of Upper Hutt City, providing governance, infrastructure, and community services and resources, and promoting opportunity in the city for business, recreation, lifestyle, and leisure. Upper Hutt City is located 30 km north-east of Wellington City (41°07'34" S, 175°04'06" E) and boasts 70% of the region’s parks and reserves, along with state-of-the-art entertainment and leisure facilities.