DoC offices shut for a week for reorganisation

The Department of Conservation's two Whangarei offices will be shut for a week from today as they are combined into one.

The existing Bank St and Kaka St premises will become one office in a renovated building in Southend Ave, Whangarei.

This will allow resources to be shared and teams to work closer together, according to Whangarei area office manager Sue Reed-Thomas.

"The move means there will be only one DoC office in Whangarei making it easier for the people who work with, or want to work with, us," she said.

"DoC work remains unchanged, but we hope the new office offers better access to the wider community."

Northland conservator Chris Jenkins said DoC is reorganising to be more able to work with communities, whanau, hapu and iwi, business, and other agencies to help address New Zealand's huge "conservation challenge".

One of which, Chris said, is raising awareness that conservation is about more than protecting threatened species.

"When you think about, say, fresh water flowing from forests, tourism opportunities and the sense of identity we get as Northlanders from iconic places like the Poor Knights Islands, you realise it is very much about a community's wellbeing and prosperity," he said. "The move symbolises this new direction for DoC and having Whangarei Area, Conservancy and distributed staff from national teams in the same building makes sense," said Mr Jenkins.

The existing offices will be closed from today and the new office at 2 Southend Ave, Raumanga, will open with a whakatuwheratanga or dawn blessing on Thursday 6 December.