Inside The Debate About The Nelson Museum’s Archive Facility

Wednesday, 3 September 2025, 4:00 pm
Article: Max Frethey - Local Democracy Reporter

On Thursday, the future of the Nelson Provincial Museum’s current plan for an archive facility in Richmond will be decided. 

The museum’s Archive, Research, and Collection (ARC) Facility has become a flashpoint in Nelson’s local election. 

Currently, the museum’s $20 million collection is held in a building at Isel Park which is prone to leaks that have damaged items and has been described by its chief executive as “absolutely not suitable whatsoever”. 

An original plan to build a new ARC in central Nelson fell through after costs climbed to $14.9 million and a key Government source of funding closed. 

After a year of work, a $9.8m solution has been proposed in the form of a new building in Richmond, across border in Tasman. 

The Nelson City and Tasman District Councils are both 50 per cent shareholders of the museum.

Tasman Mayor Tim King supported the “pragmatic” Richmond plan which he said was a “good outcome”, while local MP Rachel Boyack, the Labour Party’s spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Heritage, said it was a “sensible Plan B”. 

Iwi representatives on the museum’s advisory komiti for Māori matters and taonga have also unanimously backed the plan. 

But Nelson Mayor Nick Smith who, after making his pledge to keep the next three average rates increases below 5 per cent the cornerstone of his re-election campaign, has spent the last two weeks vociferously criticising the plan. 

Regular users of local community Facebook groups and pages were unlikely to avoid the virtual debate, which often saw the mayor pitted against an organisation partly owned by the council he leads. 

“The only way that councils can tame excessive rate increases is to better control spending and find less costly solutions,” Smith has said. 

Each council has already budgeted just over $3 million to build the new ARC. 

However, Smith is concerned about the museum needing to undertake fundraising of $1.12m and take out a $600,000 loan (to be repaid through the operating grant it receives from the councils) to deliver the Richmond facility. 

Instead, he wants to renovate and refurbish the current Isel Park facility. 

Museum chief executive Lucinda Blackley-Jimson has said that fixing their current building was not an option. 

“If we don't get a new facility now, it’ll just be putting another band-aid on top of it.” 

A building report about the Isel Park facility completed in June identified a long list of defects but said the building was structurally sound. 

The debate even boiled down to the ARC’s price per square metre, with Smith saying the Richmond “warehouse” would be $6000/sqm while the museum countered with its own figure of $2580/sqm, which it said excluded items like storage services and contingency costs. 

Smith appeared to be taking a lone stand against the facility as many of Nelson’s other elected members have come out in support of the plan. 

Councillor Aaron Stallard, Smith's principal rival in the mayoral contest, has positioned himself against the incumbent, issuing a release saying that the Richmond ARC must be delivered. 

“To back out now would harm the museum, harm Tasman, and harm other stakeholders who have shown so much goodwill.” 

Councillor Rachel Sanson got herself blocked from Smith's Facebook page for debating the issue in the comments of his own posts on the subject. 

Even one of Smith's typically steadfast allies in the council chamber, councillor Tim Skinner, said a new building was “urgent” and that the Isel Park building was not fit for preserving historical items. 

Nelson City Council undertook two weeks of consultation about the project because it would no longer be located in the central city. 

The council agenda for its Thursday meeting has been released, but a supplementary paper containing the public’s feedback is currently being compiled and is expected to only be tabled at the meeting.

Smith was just one of Nelson’s 13 elected members and, unless the submissions contain a significant surprise for councillors that would sway several votes, such as showing overwhelming public opposition to the Richmond plan, it appears likely that the museum’s Richmond proposal will be approved on Thursday.

-Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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