Cyclists' gruelling mission to deliver Nikau House petition against proposed closure

Three people have cycled for two days from Nelson to the steps of Parliament in a bid to save community mental health facility, Nikau House.

The trio, alongside Nikau House member Daniel Timms, have delivered a 4500-signature petition to National Party's Nelson MP Nick Smith today to present to the Health Select Committee next week.

The petition wants to stop the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board proposal to close the facility.

One of the cyclists, Katrina Marwick said her son Josh, who also made the journey via Maungatapu Track, had been going to the facility for several years.

"Nikau House for me as a whānau member has been a lifesaver, because it has been a professional service between the mental health unit and the community," she said.

Nikau House offered holistic support to those who needed it and had a drop-in centre with no appointment needed, Marwick said.

Daniel Timms has been in the mental health system for 20 years and he has seen how other drop-in centres have been run.

"A lot of the time people just go there have cups of tea and smoke, that's no way of rehabilitating people, but Nikau House does a good job of rehabilitating people back into the community," he said.

Even when people were going through a tough time with mental health, the facility showed them that they could live a normal life, Timms said.

"Human beings are gregarious they are social creatures and need community support, that's how they learn to stand on their own two feet," he said.

"There is life after having a nervous breakdown, there is life after burnout, there is life after having a mental illness and being suicidal, you may not want life to carry on from those dark days, but it does and Nikau House helps you do that."

Nelson Malborough Health general manager of mental health, addictions and disability support services Jane Kinsey said the consultation process was only the start of the conversation about change.

"Please be reassured that no decision has been made, and all submissions will be considered prior to making a final decision," Kinsey said.

"We are not consulting on closing services, rather we are consulting on who is best placed to provide services for people with complex needs."

The consultation timeframe for feedback about proposed changes to Nikau House was extended until 10 July, from the original closing date of 26 June.

Political reaction

Both the National Party and Labour Party want the facility to stay open.

Labour's Nelson candidate Rachel Boyack said ultimately it was an operational decision for the district health board.

"Their proposal would re-allocate funding elsewhere and what we are saying is that the existing funding allocation works best, that's what people on the ground and in the community are saying," she said.

Boyack said organisations noted in the proposal as potential duplicate services had written to the DHB to say that was not the case, and the community and herself had also raised their concerns.

"If we can avoid having to seek intervention through any other means I think that is the best way forward, I'm always a big believer in community led push-back."

But MP Nick Smith said if the National Party were elected then Nikau House would remain open

"It is a non-sense for the minister and the government to pretend this is nothing to do with them," he said.

"It will only take a stroke of the pen from the Minister of Health either as an amendment to the DHB's annual plan or through the letter of expectations to require that Nikau House should remain open."