The amount was released to Selwyn Times under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA).
The plan was to build a combined campus at Helpet Park, which would have contained police, fire and ambulance stations, plus a civil defence base.
Despite general support for the idea, none of the emergency services could commit to funding their portion of the project.
The lack of certainty led councillors to revoke a 2024 decision reserving the park for the project. Other options for the 13ha site, such selling it for housing, are being considered.
The Selwyn District Council’s response to the LGOIMA stated initial quantity surveying work estimated the police station could cost $19.4m, fire station $10.5m, ambulance station $9.9m and a council emergency operations centre and training facility $15.5m.
“These are only QS estimates on concept design to provide a preliminary costing to inform any application to the regional infrastructure fund. Final costings would have been subject to redesign of concepts and more detailed QS work,” the council’s response said.
The majority ($52,587) was spent on planning and project management, followed by $30,186 on noise and $16,672 on workshops to assess operational design.
Consultation occurred with the adjoining neighbours of the site. The council refused to provide the feedback due to privacy reasons.
“Only a few responses were received, with these mostly being supportive of the idea. One or two were opposed to the location of the campus,” the council response stated.
Despite not progressing with Helpet Park, the council has kept the door open for the project.
Council building, planning, and regulatory services executive director Robert Love said in an email to emergency services it “is still keen to keep the campus concept alive”.
“And we will now move into a process of identifying land that may be appropriate.”
