The flood damage has been repaired and new furniture and equipment is being installed at the Ministry of Social Development's South Dunedin Service Centre, which will reopen on Monday.
The news the centre is to reopen, and will provide the same range of ‘‘work and income'' services as it did before it was forced to close by flood damage, has been welcomed by social agencies.
Anglican Family Care director Nicola Taylor was ‘‘thrilled to hear'' the news.
‘‘We really welcome having the service back up and running again. It will be very helpful, especially in terms of transport,'' Ms Taylor said.
The Star visited the site, at the corner of Hillside Rd and Rankeillor St, this week with Ministry of Social Development southern regional commissioner for social development John Allen, who was pleased with the refurbishing progress.
‘‘Basically, they have had to rebuild things from the ground up to repair the flood damage - we have new carpet, new walls, new paint, the lot,'' Mr Allen said.
After the June flood forced the centre's closure, access for the 2341 clients who were using MSD services in South Dunedin at that time was shifted to the Dunedin Community Link Centre in St Andrew St. The South Dunedin centre's staff also moved to the central city for the duration.
Now the South Dunedin Service Centre - known by many as the work and income office - was reopening, the nine case managers and three support staff would be returning to the area.
A new manager, Karen Thompson, would run the centre, Mr Allen said.
‘‘The staff have quite a passion for this part of town, and have been champing at the bit to come back.''
Security provisions had also been upgraded at the centre, and there would be security officers on hand to greet clients, he said.
The announcement late last year that the South Dunedin office would reopen was greeted with relief by the community, after the delay had led to wide speculation the site would permanently close.
Mr Allen said the closure had led to discussions with MSD in Wellington and local agencies about the possibility of relocating the Youth Link service from the central city to South Dunedin.
However, the desire of the South Dunedin community for the space to continue as an MSD ‘‘work and income'' office had come through ‘‘loud and clear'', he said.
‘‘So we are back to offering the same full service, across the range of benefits.''
Presbyterian Support Otago chief executive Gillian Bremner said the centre provided an important service for a large number of people in South Dunedin.
‘‘Having that presence there is really good. There's nothing that can really replace that face-to-face contact,'' Mrs Bremner said.
Methodist Mission director Laura Black was ‘‘wholly supportive'' of the move.
‘‘It's exactly what South Dunedin needs . . . It's great to have them back,'' she said.
With the Government pushing for transactions between the public and government departments to be 70% online by 2017, the refurbished South Dunedin office will also be running a new programme to encourage online interactions. This would include four online terminals at ‘‘self service'' kiosks for clients to use, with help available if needed, Mr Allen said.
The services at the South Dunedin centre would be provided on an appointment basis, and clients would be discouraged from ‘‘walk-ins''.
‘‘The best way for people to access the service is by appointment or online.''
To make an appointment at the South Dunedin service centre, phone 0800 559-009 or go online at www.workandincome.govt.nz
