The removal of the tiles from the roof at the Carrington Building One has caused significant damage, MP Helen White said. Photo / Jason Dorday
Auckland Council has issued a bylaw notice to owners of a category one heritage building on the old Mt Albert Unitec site following multiple complaints about its deterioration.
This includes a scathing letter from Mt Albert MP Helen White to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown demanding the council uphold its duties in protecting the historic brick building after community concern that those responsible for it were demolishing it “through neglect”.
White said the council must act with “immediate effect” to stop water damage at the derelict former psychiatric hospital, formally known as Carrington Building One, caused by the removal of the roof tiles.
The building has been dormant for five years since the sale by Unitec in 2018 to the Crown, with the land it resides on set to be developed into at least 4000 apartments by the Marutūāhu Ockham No.6 Limited Partnership.
Auckland Council compliance manager Adrian Wilson said a notice was issued on Wednesday under the Property Maintenance and Nuisance Bylaw 2015, which requires the owners to “ensure all entry points to the buildings are secured and barriers maintained”.
He said the owners have until July 13 to comply.
According to Auckland Council documents, breaching the order can lead to fines of up to $20,000.
“The only enforcement mechanism available under the bylaw is prosecution,” Wilson said.
“The threshold for the council to pursue prosecution is high, and we would expect to work with owners to ensure compliance well before reaching that point.”
Earlier this month, on May 5, police said three men smashed through the building, targeting it for “materials to sell”, which the Herald understands to be copper wiring. Three men were charged with burglary.
It comes after years of repeated vandalism, including the smashing of nearly every window, huge piles of dumped rubbish, and graffiti, which now covers the walls.
In her letter to Brown, White demanded that Auckland Council immediately address the “ongoing and accelerating deterioration of [Carrington Building One]”.
Speaking to the Herald, White said: “I want life breathed into the building again … it does not deserve to sit there and rot."
White said concerns about the state of the building and the level of vandalism were raised at a public meeting last month and she called on those responsible for the building to “make good”.
A newly established playground next to the building was “a good start”, White told the Herald.
Her letter to the mayor – dated April 24 – said the removal of roof tiles had exposed the building to “sustained water ingress”, which had caused “serious and progressive structural damage”.
“Where the extent of water damage has rendered the building structurally unsound or poses a risk to public safety, I understand the council is also able to mandate immediate remedial works to prevent further deterioration.
“I ask that this avenue be considered and pursued as appropriate.”
Local resident Chris Casey, who has been heavily involved in the fight to protect the heritage building, said the destruction was not fair for the “precious taonga”.
“It’s falling to bits, the lack of management and the lack of respect is quite insulting to the building, let alone what it is to the community.
“They need to fix the bloody roof.”
There had been a lot of ideas about what the building could be, including a library or a community arts centre.
Casey said he was actively looking into opportunities for the building to be turned into a specialist school for children who did not fit into traditional schooling environments.
The rich history of the building was going to waste, he said, and the council needed to uphold its end of the bargain when it came to protecting the heritage site.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said control of the building was passed to Marutūāhu Ockham No.6 Limited Partnership.
He said Auckland Council was able to issue notices to the Crown, which remained the title holder, but responsibility for complying with Auckland Council regulations sits with the partnership.
The Herald repeatedly sought comment from the developers but received no response.
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