Construction of the mental health unit was originally supposed to be completed by last month, but has now been pushed out to late 2027. File photo. Photo: 123RF
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) is asking companies to tender for the construction of a new mental health unit in the Hutt Valley, without first getting the approval to build it.
The tender - for the Sir Mark Dunajtschik Mental Health Centre, with 34 beds - closes in mid-February.
The central health agency says it will update an implementation business case and present it to decision-makers after that. The tender was contingent on the business case for going ahead.
The earliest construction might start is in early-to-mid 2025.
HNZ said a budget figure of $72 million it released earlier was wrong, and the initial construction budget was instead $62m.
It had a preferred contractor lined up already after initial planning, but this fell through.
Wellington businesspeople Dorothy Spotswood and her partner Sir Mark Dunajtschik are donating up to $50m towards the unit.
The project was meant to have been finished last month, but it was delayed by various issues.
Internal reports in 2022 noted that the Hutt project was one of three mental health projects where lack of site master plan or "competing stakeholder expectations" had led to the location of the mental health facility changing, triggering "considerable delays and project and budgetary pressures".
That fed through into the need in 2023 to renegotiate the delivery agreement with the benefactor.
Discoveries of asbestos then held up demolition of two buildings - Pilmuir House and Kowhai House.
A "no new projects" email in August - leaked to Stuff - raised new doubts about the project and others.
A difficult build was expected, according to a new tender document.
"The site will be extremely tight and positioning of site amenities to suit the layout and allow works to proceed will be challenging."
A new finish date of the end of 2026 was put forward early last year, but that has now been pushed out almost another year.
The documents showed a contractor was expected to be chosen by May, with construction to begin in June and take two years, finishing in September 2027.
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