Architecture ruling forces Stamford Plaza pause

A High Court ruling that puts greater emphasis on the architecture of new buildings in central Auckland had an immediate impact yesterday when a major redevelopment of the Stamford Plaza hotel was deferred to allow a closer look at the design.

Instead of granting resource consent to double the size of the Albert St building, Auckland City's planning fixtures committee cited a five-day-old ruling from Justice Patrick Keane to request more urban design work.

In a landmark decision, Justice Keane overturned a resource consent for a 36-storey apartment building on the site of the historic St James Theatre in Queen St and ordered the council to reconsider the application.

Justice Keane rejected the council's arguments that it could not set design rules, saying the purpose of the Resource Management Act was to enable people and communities to provide for their social, economic and cultural wellbeing.

Therefore, aesthetics were "an indispensable concern in every planning regime and for every consent authority".

City planning manager John Duthie said the St James case gave the council more powers "than we thought we had" and it was appropriate to defer the Stamford Plaza application for one week to do more work on urban design.

One councillor on the committee, Christine Caughey, a champion of better urban design, said even though the proposal had been before the council's urban design committee and changes made, there was nothing to address the external appearance of the building.

In a 184-page report to the committee, which recommended approving the hotel project without public notification, senior planner Heather McNeal said any "adverse effects in terms of urban design and visual appearance will be less than minor". Independent planner John Lovett considered the "building will be visually interesting and attractive".

Committee chairwoman Faye Storer said she did not want to criticise council staff but "we are particularly sensitive in light of the recent court decision ... and want to see the best resolution possible".

No one from Stamford Properties in Sydney, the development arm of the Stamford hotel group, or the Auckland-based architects, Peddle Thorp, could be reached for comment.

The hotel chain plans to build nine storeys above the existing nine-storey hotel with up to 150 apartments and 148 new carparks.

The development also includes upgrading facilities, improving the retail frontage at street level in Albert St and improvements at the rear of the hotel in Mills Lane, including retail space, better lighting and footpaths.

Don McRae, spokesman for the urban design lobby group Urban Auckland, which took the St James case to the High Court and won, said the ruling would improve the quality of architecture and the built environment in central Auckland.

He said the decision could have been met with antagonism and protracted legal action by the previous council and the continuation of approving developments without proper architectural scrutiny.

He welcomed the enthusiasm by Mayor Dick Hubbard and the new council for urban design issues.

Property Council national director Connal Townsend said the court ruling was a good decision for urban design.

"The Property Council are strong supporters of the council's urban design panel, strong participants in that panel and we are actively trying to encourage members who are developers to use the panel."

Mr Townsend said Justice Keane's ruling meant the principles of urban design were part of the Resource Management Act, whereas the council and the Property Council had thought otherwise.