Dunedin hotels 'not suitable' for managed isolation

The Government has no plans to use Dunedin hotels as isolation facilities for returning New Zealanders — but the city has not been ruled out.

"Dunedin ... is just not required at this stage," a spokeswoman for the Covid-19 response group said.

"The facilities looked at would have required considerable work to make them suitable for use now, largely because of the location and layout," she said.

"However, it remains a possibility that Dunedin might be turned to in the future, should the need arise."

Minister in charge of isolation facilities Megan Woods and Air Commodore Darryn Webb, who oversees their operation, led a delegation that visited the South on Friday last week.

Officials assessed several Dunedin hotels; Queenstown and Invercargill were discounted as options at that stage.

Yesterday, Dr Woods said Dunedin was not required at present.

Setting up isolation facilities was complex, she said.

New Zealand has 32 such facilities in five regions and the Government does not plan to add more.

Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins was surprised by the decision to bypass the city, but he did not believe the minister and officials had come with a predetermined view.

"It was a very open and frank discussion with the various parties and at the end of the day it didn’t work for them and they’ve made their decision," he said.

Mr Hawkins had previously expressed some doubt about how security and logistics might be managed in Dunedin but added the city was open to playing its part in the Covid-19 response.

Yesterday, he suggested the Ministry of Health’s criteria remained at the forefront of decision-making.

"There were ways they could have mitigated the various obstacles that they had and they could have shoe-horned the city into the framework that they had, but I think they deserve credit for not doing that."

The Heritage Dunedin Leisure Lodge was one of several facilities assessed in the city.

General manager Leigh Stock said officials examined logistics but gave no indication about whether Dunedin was likely to be used and feedback was not given.

"There was never a commercial proposition put to us."

He was comfortable with the decision.

Scenic Hotel Dunedin City director Stuart McLauchlan was not involved in negotiations but wondered if the capacity of hotels in the city was considered insufficient.