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Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 44 No. 14. July 6 1981

The University Must Act

The University Must Act

No one can deny that the Hunter building is unsafe — it was declared an earthquake risk in a Wellington City Council report to the university in 1974. The City Council directed that the building be either strengthened to standard, or demolished.

At that time the building had an occupancy of about 2,500 (including students). The university instituted a policy of 'progressive evacuation' of Hunter, starting with the Law Library and including the Education department, part of Physics, the post office and bank and the closing of rooms and lecture theatres.

Those remaining today include the Music department, an even larger number in the Physics department, technicians, the university workshop, the electronic facility, and various officers — even Sir John Marshall has an office there.

However, as the article on this page from music teacher Gavin Saunders points out, the many people who remain in Hunter don't like it one bit. They claim the university administration is risking lives by not doing enough to find alternative accommodation.

There are two university committees which control the placement of these people. The first is the Professorial Board's accommodation advisory committee, which recommends placement of staff within already existing building space; and the Council's site development committee, responsible for ongoing campus building and accommodation planning.

In seven years, neither of these committees has been able to offer anything to those still in Hunter. In fact, numbers in the building are currently increasing, rather than declining.

Lindsay Wright, the university's Information Officer, told Salient that there is "no long term plan for accommodating the Music department at the moment".

University accommodation is a difficult problem, and much depends on the completion of new buildings in progress. However, it seems very clear the university has not put nearly enough effort into removing people at risk from the Hunter building, and it's time they did.

Stephen A'Court