Central Otago District Council (CODC) has defended its decision to hold an earthquake meeting in an earthquake-prone building. 

A recent public meeting on the Alpine Fault Magnitude 8 (AF8) earthquake was recently held at Alexandra Community Centre and Memorial Theatre, which raised eyebrows as the building itself is not up to code. 

One local, who wished to remain anonymous because of online ridicule, raised the question as to why the AF8 road show in Alexandra was held in a building with an unsafe building notice on the door.

“I have asked this question before on the local (Facebook) site but got trolls ridiculing me because I should know that earthquakes don’t happen in Alexandra. 

“Also the council doesn’t have the money to fix it.”

The local says she holds concerns about the building and its potential danger by being not up to building code despite hosting the public meeting about an earthquake. 

“This concern is now elevated in priority since the news article today about the AF8 predictions,” she says. 

“We want to ensure our town is as safe as can be with all buildings up to code and not risk a CTV catastrophe like the Christchurch CTV building collapse from a known fault. 

“The warning sign is still on the main door.”

The Alexandra Community Centre and Memorial Theatre recently held the AF8 Earthquake roadshow. Photo CODC. 

CODC Planning & Environment Executive Manager Louise van der Voort says the Alexandra Community Centre was the most appropriate venue in town for an event of this nature. 

“Council as building owner had an initial assessment undertaken of the Alexandra Community Centre but has not had a detailed seismic assessment. 

“There is no requirement to close buildings identified as earthquake-prone. 

“At this point we do not know definitively how many earthquake-prone buildings there are in our district. 

“We are this year undertaking work to identify how many buildings in the district are earthquake-prone. 

“We are required to do this under the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016."

Louise says Central Otago is in a medium risk category and following notification that a building is earthquake prone, building owners have 12.5 years to strengthen their building if it is a priority building, or 25 years if it is a non-priority building.

“When a detailed seismic assessment work is completed Council will understand costs involved and be able to make decisions about strengthening the Alexandra Community Centre and Memorial Theatre.

“Until then it is likely the building will continue to be used.”

According to the CODC website, there are 17 council-owned public buildings which are so far considered to be earthquake prone. 

Central Otago district has been categorised as in a 'medium seismic risk area'. 

As such the district has until July 2022 to assess what buildings in the district are earthquake prone and advise building owners. (Continue reading below).

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At this time notices on the buildings are required.

“Council itself owns a number of buildings across the district, and that is a responsibility that we take seriously,” the CODC website states. 

“We have already assessed all of our buildings to various levels and have identified some buildings as 'earthquake prone'.”