IT AIN'T PRETTY

Historic buildings past their best - should they stay or should they go, asks John Landrigan
Broken glass, precarious window panes, loose plaster, exposed wires, liquid discharges from upper-storey pipes and missing panels hover over pedestrians on Albert St's footpath.
The corner block of Albert, Wolfe and Fed eral Sts may be just a short walk from recently manicured Queen St, the Viaduct and the multimillion-dollar refurbishment of St Patrick's Square, but they're no longer pretty.
There is graffiti on every window that's not broken and on the walls above, below and beside them. Hundreds of tags are spraypainted in what appears to have been a spree of letters, spirals and squiggles.
This was not the case only four years ago, when the buildings still looked as they might have in the 1920s, although at street level they were plastered in peeling posters.
Differing opinions are holding up the decision-making process at the Environment Court. The differences are wide and far- reaching for Auckland City Council, a property tycoon and a heritage evangelist.
Heritage campaigner Allan Matson, who helped save the Fitzroy Hotel on Wakefield St and the Greek revival-style commercial building in Hobson St, is fighting to strengthen their protection with a Category A rating.
If the buildings are classified category B, as proposed, the owners can still obtain a consent to demolish by showing ``compelling reasons".
Mr Matson wonders if a sturdy building that looks war-torn would make for a ``compelling" reason.
``These are significant historic buildings that should be saved," he says.
Stuart Galloway is listed as the director of several companies that own the huge inner-city parcel of land in the Wolfe, Albert, Customs and Federal Sts block.
Plans touted for the tallest office building in Auckland, a 50-storey plaza tower have been mysteriously scrapped while litigation continues.
Mr Galloway has a plush Herne Bay home overlooking Hauraki Gulf, which is listed in the companies' office. It sits, seemingly abandoned. He has no listed phone number, neither do the companies he represents. The companies are all registered under an accountant's home address in Parnell. His lawyers and accountant would not give The Aucklander his contact details.
In a 2006 submission to the council regard ing the plaza development, Mr Galloway said the buildings were ``derelict and long overdue for redevelopment".
He says the developers wanted to build something with ``ample public space and dram atic presence".
In the council's district plan, the Yates build ing, which is part of that block, is scheduled to become a Category B heritage building. It is the city's earliest steel-reinforced structure, built for Yates seed merchants. Two adjoining buildings, including the Yates factory, are identified as character buildings, which gives them a degree of protection from demolition.
Of the buildings in this huge inner-city block they are the only ones vandalised so extensively.
The heritage manager for Auckland City Council, Nicola Short, confirmed scheduling of the Yates building and the character build ings has been appealed by ``various parties'".
``The council,' says Mrs Short, ``is currently negotiating with the owner to create a plan for the rebuilding and construction of the site.
``The agreement for the purchase of the site by Buckingham Developments, who own the current West Plaza Centre and who were plan ning the 50-storey building, was withdrawn before settlement." She says resource consent to demolish the buildings was applied for about two years ago. ``The Building Act specifies that a building has to be structurally sound, but does not include rules or regulations regarding the aesthetics," says Mrs Short.