Kiwi prison design standard exceed those in AUS

A report has found Spring Hill and Otago prisons exceeded the standards of comparable Australian prisons, and has suggested ways to save costs building jails in future.

National corrections spokesman Simon Power said the report showed the prisons projects were badly planned, savings could have been made if the design had not been locked in with pre-purchased materials.

The prisons also contained "unnecessary luxuries".

The report, commissioned by Treasury and the Department of Corrections, looked at Spring Hill and Otago prisons to see if savings could be made.

Consultants Evans and Peck also compared the New Zealand prisons with prisons built in Australia to see if savings could be made in future.

Treasury said that in some areas, Spring Hills and Otago exceeded the design standards of the Australian prisons.

"For example, they were built with ablutions facilities in every cell, rather than communal facilities.

"This approach was more expensive but would allow the medium-low security facilities to be converted easily to medium-high security if needed in future."

Some cultural and religious facilities were also of a higher standard in the New Zealand prisons, "as were dining and recreational areas".

The report also suggested costs were increased by tight deadlines for building the prisons.

It said most of the significant materials had been pre-purchased which committed not only capital but also to the design and construction strategies.

The cost of changing these strategies at this stage would be "prohibitively high despite the potential opportunity for better value for money".

Mr Power said Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor had said the prisons were "not gold-plated".

"This report shows he was wrong," Mr Power said.

Savings for not having "personal facilities" in cells were estimated at $11.5 million, he said.

The report identified the main area of opportunity for making cost savings during the latter stages of construction was in the proposed "finish" for the site, particularly landscaping.

Scaling back the standard of landscaping was estimated to saving up to $500,000 and $100,000 respectively at Spring Hill and Otago.

Another area of opportunity in savings on the finish might be the degree and quality of internal painting and the quality of sealing walkways and driveways.

"In other jurisdictions, cells are partially or completely unpainted, and walkways and driveways are sealed with low-cost bitumen. These solutions may be inappropriate for New Zealand but could be investigated by Corrections."

Treasury deputy secretary Peter Mersi said building the prisons was an enormous undertaking "the equivalent of building two small towns".

It was important lessons were learnt for reducing costs and improving delivery in the future.

Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews said the report highlighted some design alternatives and contained useful insights that would be taken into account when building future prisons.