By BERNARD ORSMAN
City Vision will bloc-vote against the sale of council-owned air rights that would give a planned giant mall access to Broadway.
Body1: Acting Auckland Mayor Dr Bruce Hucker has taken the first political step to stymie the $450 million mega-shopping mall planned for Newmarket.
Dr Hucker and four other City Vision councillors have decided to oppose the sale of council-owned air rights to the developer and plan to force a full council vote on the issue.
Without air rights over Nuffield St, the Australian property group Westfield will have to scale back its plans for the 11-storey mall housing up to 260 shops. It would also lose direct access to the main shopping strip on Broadway.
"We do not support the privatisation of public air space of a 110m long stretch along Nuffield St and its potential use for an intensive private development," Dr Hucker told the Herald yesterday.
He said the left-leaning City Vision ticket believed the council should decide whether to sell the air rights to Westfield before considering the separate issue of a private plan change to allow the mall to go ahead. The issue is on the agenda for the finance and planning committee meeting on December 7 and could go to the full council for a definitive vote on December 14.
Dr Hucker, acting mayor while Mayor Christine Fletcher is overseas for three weeks, denied that City Vision was responding to growing public opposition to the mall, which is planned to span a 4.3ha block stretching from Remuera Rd across to the Southern Motorway.
The development is likely to be an election issue next year for councillors in the eastern suburbs. At a public meeting on Sunday, organised by the Newmarket Protection Society, 200 people against Westfield's plans were urged to telephone councillors to press their views.
Mrs Fletcher and her likely rival for the mayoralty, councillor Victoria Carter - who both mix and mingle in wealthy eastern suburb circles - are coming under enormous pressure to oppose the mall.
A spokesman for Mrs Fletcher said she wanted the issue of air rights resolved before the private plan change was considered.
He said Mrs Fletcher had not stated a position yet on the sale of air rights or the mall.
Victoria Carter, whose ward includes Newmarket, said she wanted to be fully informed before forming a view on the sale of air rights or the mall.
"I think it is quite right to bring it [the sale of air rights] to full council for a discussion because in this situation it has got much broader ramifications. Our policy should not always be what has the greatest financial gain but what is in the best interests of the city."
Westfield New Zealand chief executive Grant Hirst said any council decision not to sell air rights would not stop the company from proceeding with the mall, even though it would be 50m away from Broadway.
The purchase of air rights was common business practice and it would be premature of councillors to take a decision before knowing all the facts.
He said the debate over the sale of air rights had been hijacked by a couple of developers, including Newmarket Business Association chairman Darryl Henry, who wanted to buy air rights from the council for his own commercial interests.
Mr Henry said last night that he would not respond yet to Mr Hirst.
Three Citizens and Ratepayers councillors - leader Doug Astley, former Deputy Mayor David Hay and Dame Barbara Goodman - said they wanted to see Westfield's application before considering the air rights sale.
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