The following information provides an update on LINZ’s decision to vacate the property at 12 Hutchins Street, Waitara, including the operations of the Waitara and District Community Childcare Centre.
On 15 January 2025, LINZ carried out a routine inspection of the Waitara and District Community Childcare Centre premises. While inspecting the property, our staff saw extensive and visible mould within the childcare centre.
Based on this inspection, LINZ made the decision to give the childcare centre 90-days notice to vacate the property.
Following a site visit in late February the Ministry of Education made the decision to move the childcare centre out of 12 Hutchins Street immediately and seek alternative accommodation.
The Ministry of Education continues to support the childcare centre to find longer term accommodation beyond the premises it moved into temporarily.
Decision to vacate property
Our immediate priority when making the decision to vacate the property was the health and welfare of the children and staff at the centre.
Previous inspections undertaken by our property managers did not identify any mould within the childcare centre. LINZ had not received any reports of mould from the childcare centre.
Assessment report
LINZ commissioned an urgent mould assessment report and can confirm the presence of both stachybotrys, commonly known as black mould, and cladosporium, a common indoor mould.
Exposure to black mould spores can lead to various health issues, including respiratory problems like asthma and allergies, irritations to the eyes, nose, and throat and more severe reactions in people with weakened immune systems, children and the elderly.
Children are more susceptible to respiratory and allergic conditions due to their developing immune systems.
LINZ has provided the childcare centre with the results of the surface and airborne mould assessment.
This reports the likely source of mould was an unreported leak in the roof above the childcare centre.
LINZ Head of Crown Property Sonya Wikitera says these results confirm our decision to give notice to the childcare centre.
“From the outset we have recognised this process has been disruptive and upsetting for parents, children and staff of the centre.
“The health and wellbeing of the community using the childcare centre has been at the forefront of our decision making.”
Further information about the property
The property at 12 Hutchins Street has been in the Treaty Settlement Landbank since 1999 and has been managed by LINZ since 2016.
Properties come into the Treaty Settlement Landbank when they are no longer needed for Government purposes. Usually, services operating from these properties are wound down over a period of years and were not invested in for major upgrades.
These properties are not intended to be long-term assets for LINZ and, if not included in a Treaty Settlement, they are sold on the open market.
Media contact
Email: media@linz.govt.nz