5 August 2008
The Nelson Environment Centre, for a long time a stalwart of environmental services and information in Nelson, has reason to celebrate with the opening of its new offices late last month. The Environment Centre, along with Forest and Bird, have shifted into new offices in Akerstern Street, Port Nelson, with enough space to cope with growing interest from the public.
The Prime Minister and other distinguished visitors were there to help open the new centre. After starting the day with a blessing, the public were able to look around the centre and view displays of the centres current projects.
The Environment Centre’s Chair Derek Shaw sees the centre’s move as a signal that the time has come for environmental groups. “We are now in a great position to help and advise the community and the public on environmental issues. The messages about the state of the planet are quite grim, but we have a lot of positive advice about what people can do to help”.
The new centre houses room for additional staff, a meeting room, display space and a resource library. Derek Shaw says people are contacting them more and more about everything from composting and energy efficient light-bulbs to hybrid cars and home insulation.
Six new part time staff have also been taken on to help run the current projects the centre operates. These include Waste Education Services, Transition Nelson and a Carbon Reduction and Reward Scheme. The Environment Centre works with a number of groups in the community, from schools to businesses.
Karen Lee, a sustainability coordinator with the Nelson City Council, is quick to praise the work of the Centre. "The Nelson Environment Centre have been doing fantastic work supporting the environment for the past 30 years – it’s great to see the Centre taking on so many new projects, which can only be of benefit to Nelson in the future".
See the Nelson Environment Centre website for how to contact them and for more information on their projects.
