Following the recent earthquake events in the Wellington region, New World Hutt City is currently closed due to the possible demolition of a neighbouring building at the Queensgate Mall.
On 24th November, Hutt City Council issued Foodstuffs with a warrant under the s129 Building Act 2004 regarding earthquake damage risk identified with the Queensgate Building. Receipt of the warrant means that with immediate effect the decision was taken to close New World Hutt City. The store will remain closed until further notice.
No other Foodstuffs stores in the Wellington region are affected by this issue and there are no safety issues with the New World Hutt City building. The store has been cleared by engineers following last week’s earthquakes and the closure is a precautionary measure only due to the potential risk posed by the neighbouring Queensgate Building.
“We are unable to give any further detail at this stage,” says Chris Quin, CEO, Foodstuffs North Island Ltd. “Our priority right now is with the customers and staff and ensuring the appropriate measures are taken with the closure of the store. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but staff and customer safety is paramount and legally we are required to act.”
For up-to-date information on the status of this store please go to the New World Facebook page.
New World Hutt City customers are advised that the nearest New World stores to Hutt City are;
New World Stokes Valley – Oates/Evans Streets, Stokes Valley
New World Silverstream – 28 Whiteman’s Rd, Silverstream
New World Railway Metro – Wellington Railway Station, 2 Bunny Street, Wellington
New World Thorndon – 150 Molesworth Street, Thorndon
On 25th November, Queensgate Shopping Centre owners Diversified NZ Property Trust (Diversified), advised that they received notification from the Hutt City Council to take any necessary action to remove the whole of the building located at the Northeast corner of the Centre. The building comprises the cinema complex and 300 carparks below.
A contractor has been appointed to carry out the work and is already on site. The contractor has been instructed to carry out the demolition at the Queensgate property with urgency.
