Ashburton community house opens

The community house (Wuz Armstrong)
The community house (Wuz Armstrong)

A new community building in Ashburton has opened, taking the place of the Work and Income office where Russell Tully went on a rampage in 2014.

The building, called Community House Mid Canterbury, is to be used for social and welfare services.

It was officially opened by MP Jo Goodhew this morning in front of a big crowd of Ashburton community members.

"This is a big deal for this community," she said.

"It's a day that only came about because of the courage to move on."

The 800sqm community house takes the place of the Work and Income site where two staff were killed in September 2014 by Tully.

The memorial (Wuz Armstrong)

The memorial in front of the building was unveiled earlier in the week. It has the names of killed staff members Peg Noble and Susan Leigh Cleveland.

"The people who work and volunteer in this place are just completely over the moon about it," Ms Goodhew said.

Newshub.