Hamilton City Council and its facilities will be closed for three hours on the morning of Thursday 29 July to allow for an all-staff meeting.

The meeting will be only the second time the Council’s 1,200 staff have got together and the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Chief executive Richard Briggs said during the last year, Council staff had faced unprecedented challenges and had kept the city running and providing essential services.

“During the past year our teams have dealt with Covid-19, developed a new Long Term Plan alongside the Mayor, Councillors and community, and continue to deliver projects that make Hamilton a great place to live,” said Mr Briggs.

“It’s really important to get everyone into the same room, make sure we’re all on the same page and get ready for challenges ahead. Every organisation needs to invest in its team members and Council staff are no different.”

The meeting is being held at Claudelands event centre and will run from 8am to 10.30am, with 30 minutes allowed each side for travel and to reopen facilities.

The following customer-facing services will be closed until 11am, Hamilton City Council, Hamilton Zoo, Hamilton i-SITE Visitor Information Centre, Waikato Museum and ArtsPost. Special voting in the by-election will also be unavailable during this time.

Waterworld will be open from 5.30am to 7.30am, Gallagher Aquatic Centre will be open from 6am to 7.30am – both will then reopen at 11am. Hamilton City Libraries will reopen from 11.30am.

Essential services will continue, including the Council’s call centre (07 838 6699) for any urgent enquires.

The Council has budgeted $18 per person for the meeting from existing budgets which includes two guest speakers.

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