Invercargill City Councillors have voted to get earthquake strengthening and much-needed remedial work on Anderson House underway, so the iconic house can be enjoyed by the community once more. 

Anderson House and its surrounding grounds were gifted to the council in 1951, but the house was closed in 2014 due it being an earthquake risk. 

Next year will be the 70th anniversary of it being a ratepayer-owned asset.

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In 2017, the ICC budgeted $1.72 million in the 2020/21 financial year to carry out the potential earthquake re-strengthening work, however, the work has been delayed. 

In an Infrastructure Services Committee meeting yesterday (October 6), it was recommended that councillors approve up to $400,000 to carry out urgently required maintenance on the house and apply for the needed earthquake repair work - $800,000 - through the Lotteries Environment and Heritage Fund.

Initially, Cr Alex Crackett moved that the committee waits until funding though the Lotteries Fund could be secured before moving forward with the strengthening work.

"We need to apply for that funding because if we can save our ratepayer $800,000 then we absolutely need to exhaust that option," she said. 

ICC parks and recreation manager Michelle Frey said the date that the Lotteries Fund would decide which projects were successful would be June 2, 20221.

Cr Biddle felt this date was too far into the future. 

"That changes everything for me," she said.

"June is a long way away...I'm not sure if the community has an appetite to wait twelve months when we forecasted this in our budget already."

She said perhaps if Anderson House was opened sooner and made available to the public, a suitable use for it may transpire organically.

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A future use of Anderson House is still being brainstormed by council staff.

However, Cr Nigel Skelt said it was “extremely clear” that Anderson House was high on the public's priority of being re-opened, and the council should not wait and get on with the earthquake strengthening work immediately.

"Now is the time," he said.

"To me, there is only one option...we cannot wait till June next year, we have to this community, our ratepayers, a responsibility to look after the assets that we own."

He said the council had done a "damn poor" job in the last few years of looking after its assets and it owed it to ratepayers to step-up with Anderson House. 

"Now is the time to be positive and show this community that we mean to look after our assets. [Anderson House] is iconic."

His remark was met by some applause from the public gallery.

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Cr Nobby Clark said he was also in support of this option.

Councillors then unanimously decided to move forward with the strengthening work but also apply for funding through the Lotteries concurrently with this work. 

This means that the process of strengthening gets underway and any funding secured through the Lotteries Fund is a bonus.

The ICC parks and recreation team will also continue to work on finding a suitable future use for the house for the public to enjoy.