Town has `X-factor for world stage'

By Lindy Laird The Kerikeri Basin has World Heritage potential stamped all over it - and that status would put it up there with Egypt's pyramids, India's Taj Mahal, England's Stonehenge, Poland's Auschwitz and the historic centre of Prague.
But a million cars a year passing within metres of the famous Stone Store and other buildings was undermining that potential status, visiting international expert Sir Neil Cossons said this week.
The situation is unsustainable, according to the chairman of English Heritage. He described the site as New Zealand's most significant historical precinct.
"And the imposition of traffic is destroying it."
As well as traffic vibrations, flooding exacerbated by the low road bridge also endangered the Stone Store and Kemp House.
Sir Neil applauded the Government's announcement last year of $10 million funding to remove the present road and bridge at the Kororipo Kerikeri inlet and create a bypass connecting Kerikeri and Waipapa Roads. Work could begin on the new route as soon as next year.
But reconciling tourism and conservation values with economic sustainability was also a vital issue in heritage-site management, Sir Neil said.
"It is possible to get the right balance. The first stage here is getting rid of the bridge and the road," he said. "Being a World Heritage site means it is important to everyone on the planet, but that international designation is not for reasons of tourism.
"No-one is going to stand up and say, `oh, we're now going to have 10 times as many tourists'.
"Conservation has to take precedence over access."
The Kororipo-Kerikeri Basin Sustainable Development Plan, a Department of Conservation, Historic Places Trust and Far North District Council joint project, was fundamental to managing that access and future issues created by tourism demands, Sir Neil said.
Such a plan would also be a Unesco requirement if its World Heritage committee were to consider the area.
The plan's final draft should be completed by November.
Sir Neil has been involved in the management of six World Heritage sites in the United Kingdom.
The combination of history, at the heart of which was the meeting of two races, and a beautiful natural setting - "together, a compelling ambience" - gave the Kerikeri site an X-factor that elevated it to international significance, he said.
"This was the first permanent settlement for a new people arriving here. In terms of the history of New Zealand that must be hugely, hugely important.
"The point is that this was the foundation of a new society. More than national importance, that has to be of international significance."
The historical precinct encompasses Kemp House built in 1822, its garden developed in 1820, the Stone Store built in 1835, Kororipo Pa, Rewa's Village, the landing where the first Europeans arrived, the old Butler House and St James Church, thought to be on the site of New Zealand's first church.