Christchurch – the city that has endured so much in the recent past – will get New Zealand’s first multicultural hub, after a bid to secure much elusive funding was approved by the local council on Tuesday, June 25.
The council has agreed to put $3m toward a multicultural centre for the city.
The hub envisages offering dedicated spaces for education, community strengthening, social and financial well-being capacity building, with flexible office space for various agencies from educational, public and civil sectors.
A designer's illustration of the proposed multicultural hub
Hagley College wanted to build a $5m multicultural centre on its site, of which school trust was ready to put in $1m while seeking the remaining funding from external sources including the Council.
The college is soon starting its own $20.5 million worth of redevelopments and has been advocating a simultaneous development of the multicultural hub, to reduce the cost, and therefore desperately seeking external funding, with the close cooperation of like-minded organisations.
While the demand for such a community centre in the heart of Christchurch city has existed for many years, it gained much traction in the last three years when Hagley College came up with a plan to establish a multicultural hub at its site to celebrate diversity and to embrace all ethnic communities.
Recently, in the aftermath of Christchurch terror attack, several NGOs, support networks, and stakeholders, particularly Christchurch Multicultural Council, and Christchurch Refugees Resource & Services Centre had teamed up with the Hagley College to strengthen the demand for such a multicultural hub.
Notably, in early May this year, the college’s Principal Mike Fowler was joined by Christchurch Multicultural Council President Surinder Tandon and Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre Chairman Ahmed Tani to make a presentation before the city council when it assembled to discuss Annual Plan submissions.
Speaking in front of the council then, the trio had emphasised that “The need for a multicultural hub is even greater now after the March 15 terrorist attacks on the two mosques.”
College Principal Mike Fowler said the centre would be a flagship regional hub for culturally and linguistically diverse communities of all ages.
Surinder Tandon, the recently re-elected President of the Christchurch Multicultural Council, told The Indian Weekender that the proposed multicultural hub will fill a long-felt gap in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities of Christchurch.
“Christchurch has recently lost a Migrant Centre for the lack of funding that had affected thousands in the community struggling to settle and integrate,” Mr Tandon said pointing towards the closure of Canterbury Migrants Centre in June 2017.
“However, even that Migrant Centre did not have any large spaces for holding big meetings, forums or cultural events,” Mr Tandon said, emphasising on the point of difference of the proposed multicultural hub with any other migrant centre the country has seen.
“Hagley College had naturally filled the role of a welfare centre post-March-15 attacks, thereby reinforcing Hagley community college’s image within our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.
“This is a key reason why the hub at Hagley will be successful.” Mr Tandon said.
What makes this proposed multicultural hub different from anything previously seen in this country are the casual and relaxed spaces for people from diverse communities such as a central street, open kitchen and eating area, along with larger spaces for events or meetings
Key hub features
- reception and welcoming area to facilitate easy navigation of the centre and coordination of services
- small meeting spaces so that various providers and agencies can come together under a hot-desk arrangement
- multi-purpose spaces with attached kitchen facilities
- located in a prime inner city location on the corner of St Asaph and Stewart Streets.
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