Waterfront Losing Authenticity...?

This is a view of North Wharf, Wynyard Quarter, before the present waterfront transformation project got underway...

You can make out the original net shed just above and right of centre... with a couple of fishing boats moored across North Wharf, and a vehicle ferry to the right.

Wynyard Wharf is bottom right. You can see a couple of trawlers moored, and perhaps one end of the Kestrel.

I went down to Wynyard Quarter and took a few photos when I was a Regional Councillor (love to find the originals now). Must have been around 2007-2008....

You can see why this building was called the net shed. It was used to store fishing nets. It was the place where nets were maintained and repaired. The place had a lot of character....

Many nets were stored on Wynyard Wharf, and fishing boats moored there too, and related traffic serviced the fishing industry along Wynyard and North Wharves....

This is another picture, showing the state of the wharf timbers on Wynyard Wharf.

This image is from the cover of the Wynyard Quarter Precinct Plan 1 document, which is dated July 2009, and was prepared by Sea + City, a subsidiary of Auckland Regional Holdings, governed by Auckland Regional Council.

The purpose of the Precinct Plan is to: "....take the principles established in the Urban Design Framework (UDF) and Plan Changes 3 and 4 and apply them to Precinct 1..."

This diagram is from pg 20 of the precinct plan, and relates to the UDF principle: "Active and Working Waterfront".

It shows fishing boats moored along North Wharf - as they did pre-development. No fishing boats are shown on Wynyard Wharf. It is not clear from this diagram where fishing nets and related activities would be located.

The text describing the map is shown here. It describes what the precinct plan response is: "Retain Existing Marine Uses. The Precinct's regionally significant fishing and marine industries provide authentic experiences. Maintaining these...... is a key aspect of establishing the identity of the Precinct...."

This map is taken from pg 24 of the document which relates to the UDF Principle 6: Facilitating a mix of uses and activities.

Note reference to "active fishing industry..."

Further on in the Precinct Plan, are the design guidelines established to implement the principles. This diagram is from pg 58 which contains the design guidelines for North Wharf.

This indicates that the sea and berthing space opposite the refurbished net shed was to continue as "fishing fleet berthage", and that there was to be a 5 metre wide "fishing service access zone" - which left a generous pedestrian circulation zone.

This is visualised in the Precinct Plan at pg 59.

I took a couple of photos as transformation got underway. The buildings either side of the net shed were demolished. Great care was taken to preserve every bit of rail, old concrete, wharf timbers...

Security was tight...

And it has been very successful - as an entertainment precinct. But, as this picture shows, the 5 metre service zone now contains seating. And whenever I go down there now for a beer or a  bite, I don't see any fishing boats moored along North Wharf.

Some say that Wynyard Quarter is at risk of losing the gritty edge it had. Losing its authenticity. More of a theme park. An outside Westfields Mall experience.

The Viaduct development will be remembered by many as one where private apartment interests successfully drove the fishing fleet out. Is the same thing happening at Wynyard Quarter? 

The Active and Working Waterfront UDF principle is an important one. It needs to be protected and implemented.