Council Shafts Wynyard Quarter Heritage

This is another chapter in the ongoing saga of heritage building and heritage character protection on Auckland's waterfront. It concerns what is happening - or is in danger of happening - at Wynyard Quarter as relentless development pressure is brought to bear on the fragile heritage receiving environment that is being progressively developed.

While I was on Auckland Regional Council I worked hard with Councillor Sandra Coney in particular to get sufficient protections built into the relevant planning documents. This 2009 blog gives the background to an important change that was made by Auckland Regional Council to the Urban Design Framework for Wynyard Quarter. Up to that point in time the Framework did not include as a principle, any mention of maritime heritage.

Heritage experts were then retained to advise on the key buildings and features of Wynyard Quarter. Their work is illustrated in this map, which you can click on to see the full size.

The outlined buildings are those identified by the heritage advisers, while the dotted lines indicate the adjacent land that is important in terms of actually looking at the buildings and appreciating them.

The tanks that are outlined are those that were on Wynyard Quarter before 1940, and were regarded as heritage value because of that. This includes the cement silos.

The arrows are important. These indicate the significant vistas or views of the heritage buildings and character sites. It makes sense to have these indications - because there's no point in having heritage and looking after it if you can't actually see it.

With this expert work done, both the Auckland Regional Council and Auckland City Council were ready to notify the relevant changes to the District Plan and the Regional Plan Coastal. These changes included schedules identifying the heritage buildings that Council had agreed should be protected.

Immediately these schedules were criticised by land owners, many of whom wanted to demolish the buildings, create brown field sites and redevelop from scratch. During the Plan Change process the number of protected buildings was knocked back to 9, but Auckland Regional Council fought back indicating that heritage character was important not just narrowly defined heritage buildings. Many of these objections went before the Environment Court while I was still on Council. I recorded my concerns about these attacks, site by site, and building by building in this blog.

After the appeal, and after consideration by New Zealand's leading heritage judge this number was reduced by a further 3 this effectively destroyed a strong character precinct in Beauchamp Street between Fanshawe and Pakenham. This map sets out the Judge's decision.

But that's not all. In the plan that was finally notified, a number of laneways and new view shafts were identified – some of these went directly through identified character buildings. You see? In the beginning the heritage and character buildings were a big part of the view. Council went ahead to give effect to its 2009 decision: "that maritime heritage and waterfront character need to be protected and enhanced to the maximum extent possible, alongside other principles in the Urban Design Framework...."

This map - a more recent modification - shows these new view shafts, and the heritage buildings that are deemed "in the way" of these views. One view appears to be toward the city, the other appears to be toward the Harbour Bridge.

Ironic indeed that the newspaper reports of the Waterfront Conference and presentations being held now in Auckland - from Hamburg and such places - highlight the emphasis these exemplary waterfront developments accord maritime heritage.

Even more ironic that the views of modernist Auckland architecture are now being regarded as more important than views and buildings that have been identified by experts as being of significant heritage value.

Auckland is being shafted.

Endangered Species: Auckland Waterfront Character Buildings

This blog is about the protection of the maritime character of the Wynyard Quarter, aka the Western Reclamation, on Auckland's waterfront. Specifically it is about the protection of character buildings down there - all of which have a connection with Auckland's maritime past - all of which ARC (Auckland Regional Council) is seeking to protect in the area's planning controls. However, ARC's commitment to the protection of built characters and heritage is not shared. Various parties, notably Viaduct Harbour Holdings, are resisting ARC's protection efforts in the Environment Court. Sadly, Auckland City Council is also not supporting ARC, in respect of many of the buildings. It is supporting ARC in regard to some buildings - what I would describe as the obvious ones. But unfortunately Auckland City's support does not extend to some of the more workmanlike buildings which give the area so much of its character. The map shown here - and I know it's a bit hard to read in this blog, but I've enlarged a bit of it below - is of the Wynyard Quarter....

The map show shows the location of the 17 buildings ARC believes need some protection from demolition, and some planning regard for their character and heritage qualities. You can see that the buildings are numbered, colour-coded, and three of them have red rings around them. The legend explaining these codes is next...

Ok, so here's the legend. The eight green buildings (Nos 1-8) were in the Plan Change for Wynyard Quarter that was notified by Auckland City Council a couple of years ago. Following submissions etc three further buildings (Nos 9-11) were added at the decision stage - presumably through commissioner's decision. After the decision on the Plan Change was released it was appealed by various parties, including VHHL and ARC. The VHHL appeals sought the deletion of buildings 8, 10 and 11 from the Plan Change. The ARC's appeal seeks the inclusion of additional buildings 12-17. Mediation is presently occurring under the Environment Court's direction.

Building/Structure 1: 65-75 Jellicoe StGolden Bay Cement building and silos Buildings 1-7 are protected by consensus at this stage. No party has appealed these buildings being protected. Protected so far. Building 2: 1-17 Jellicoe StShed (referred to variously and AHB Shed and Fisherman’s shed) Protected so far.

Building 3: 22-32 Jellicoe StBrick building used by Sanford Protected so far.

Building 4: 22-32 Jellicoe StSanford Building Protected so far.

I include here a couple of images I prepared for submissions I made to the Plan Change a couple of years ago. You can see Building 4, the Sanford's Building on the right, in the context of the adjacent building envelopes that will be permitted as of right by the Plan Change. (The building across Jellicoe Street approximately shows the Red Shed - Building 2 - which is protected so far).... The reason this image is here is to give some impression as to the dominating effect of new development on the skyline, and on character buildings, and on the general feel of the area. That is why I believe it is critical that all of the buildings which ARC seeks protection for - and you can see them distributed thoughout the area on the map - remain protected. Not just for themselves, but because of the way their presence will balance the modernising presence of new buildings as the land is developed.

Take the ASB building proposal for example. The two ASB buildings occupy the footprints to the left of the protected Sanford Building, and are across Jellicoe Street from the protected Red Shed (which you can see in this image). Note how invisible the Sanford's Building has become. And that's without the building that can be built to its right. In fact the ASB proposal (apart from the volcanic roof form), broadly follows the plan change, and shows a stepping down in heights toward the Sanfords Build. So it does not disappear altogether. The point I'm trying to make here is that the retention of character buildings can and should have an important defining role in determining and affecting the development of new buildings.

Building 5: 8-14 Madden St Sail Connections (formerly Selwyn Timber Company then N. Cole Building) Protected so far.

Building 6: 120-126 Halsey St:Halsey Street Flower Traders (Formerly Neuchatel Offices) Protected so far.

Building 7: 118-120 Beaumont St Sailors’ Corner (Former British Imperial Oil Company) Protected so far.

Building 8: 101-107 Beaumont St Dive HQ/ Burnsco Marine/ Teleflex Morse At risk! Auckland City Council has gone cold on this one, because they have decided that Beaumont Street needs to be widened to provide for three lanes of traffic heading West out of Wynyard Quarter. So they believe the frontage will need to be demolished. This is a bit tragic for an area whose traffic patterns are planned to be the very antithesis of the rest of Auckland. ie pedestrian and cycling centred, with only a small fraction of the traffic movements in and out to be by means of single occupancy vehicles. It would be a travesty of traffic over place - if this widening and character building demolition ever occurs. Come on Auckland City!

Building 9: Packenham St West and Halsey St (120-126 Halsey St): J. Lysacht Building Protected so far.

Building 10: 121-127 Beaumont StTrans-Pacific Marine At risk! VHHL are opposing.

Building 11: Corner Gaunt & Daldy Sts (125-127 Beaumont St)Marine Electronics Warehouse At risk! VHHL are opposing.

Building 12: 38 Hamer StSanford boat slipway P.Voss slipway At risk! Though ARC seeks some character building protection. The rest of these buildings 12-17 have been added in for consideration by ARC after a very careful look at characters and heritage buildings on Wynyard Quarter. At this late stage it appears there is little support from other parties to include these buildings among those accorded some protection. I ran a detailed blog entry about this particular one - the Vos Building - last week. This is the sort of result we can aim for on this site. You can see it at: http://joelcayford.blogspot.com/2010/02/vos-building-maritime-heritage-at.html

Building 13: 139 Packenham St West: Southern Spars At risk! Though ARC seeks some character building protection.

Building 14: Packenham St West: North Sails At risk! Though ARC seeks some character building protection.

Building 15: 136 Beaumont St Gloss Boats (Former Bailey’s Shipyard and Devonport Ferry Co. Building, Segar Bros/Mason Bros. Boiler Shop Slip) At risk! Though ARC seeks some character building protection.

Building 16: 132-136 Beaumont StHQ (Former Chas Bailey Shipyards, Old North Shore Ferries Building) At risk! Though ARC seeks some character building protection.

Building 17: 129-135 Beaumont St Smart Marine At risk! Though ARC seeks some character building protection. I think it is time that Auckland City Council (not just officers) had a second look at this.