B-K's Palmerston North Motor Lodge Comes to Wellington's Rescue
By Tristan Hooker/MediaPA
B-K's Palmerston North Motor Lodge has been providing temporary accommodation to government staff in the wake of the Kaikoura earthquake.
The city of Palmerston North has provided office space for 31 staff from the Ministry of Social Development, who have been displaced from Wellington.
Gail Mattock, who manages B-K's Palmerston North Motor Lodge alongside her husband Kelvin, says B-K’s have been hosts to a number of government employees during November and into December.
“With a lot of government department buildings in Wellington already demolished, or about to be demolished, it leaves a lot of people with nowhere to work down there. It makes sense to send them to Palmerston North and we’re more than happy to take them.”
According to reports, at least 3000 of the capital's 18,000 public servants have been forced out of their offices as a result of the earthquakes.
“We’ve had our upstairs 18 units out, the majority of which are split king- twin share, Gail said. “We’ve been kept very busy supplying continental and cooked breakfasts and servicing their units daily over the last few weeks.”
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said in a statement to media that Palmerston North had existing systems in place to provide temporary work spaces during the emergency response. He suggested more government departments should consider moving permanently out of Wellington.
Mr Smith said moving some departments to Palmerston North would not only support regional growth, it would make more sense than having so many department employees based in earthquake-prone Wellington.
"To me, it's like having all your eggs in one basket," he said.
B-Ks Palmerston North Motor Lodge offers new, fully equipped guest accommodation in a convenient location, just three minutes’ walk to restaurants and five minutes to the CBD.
Contact B-K's Palmerston North Motor Lodge
Freephone: 0800 222 830
Local phone: 06 353 5995
International: +64 6353 5995
Fax: 06 353 5993
Physical address: 102 Cuba Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Email: info@bkspalmerstonnorth.co.nz
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