Fate of art deco houses hangs in balance

All Black coach Graham Henry and other St Heliers locals have been caught up in the issue of the Turua St art deco houses. Photo / Dean Purcell

The fate of three art deco houses in St Heliers hangs in the balance after a meeting last night between Mayor Len Brown and the owners who want to demolish the properties for a commercial development.

Ancona Group managing director Mike Markham and his team agreed to suspend demolition to give the council the opportunity to explore possible options to save the Spanish-style houses.

Mr Brown noted the developers had a legitimate right to redevelop the land in Turua St, and warned that "people should remain realistic about possible outcomes".

At an earlier Auckland Council meeting, Orakei councillor Cameron Brewer said he doubted anything would come from the talks, as he and others failed to get any concessions from the developers on Tuesday.

At the council meeting, Mr Brown led the opposition to a plan by councillor Sandra Coney to place a heritage order on the houses to fight the matter in court or reach a solution with developers Mike and Sandra Markham.

Councillors voted 14-7 to oppose the heritage order.

Mr Brown, who stood for mayor on a pro-heritage platform, said the best advice from council officers was that the council would get seriously caned by the courts, which had already ruled in favour of the Markhams, who had consent to demolish the houses for a three-storey commercial and residential development.

A court battle would be costly and ratepayers could end up having to buy the houses - estimated by chief planning officer Dr Roger Blakeley at $7 million to $8 million on top of legal and other costs of $1 million - and set a precedent for the next three years, the mayor said.

As the council debated the issue and protesters stood on the footpath outside the Spanish-style buildings, workers were removing doors, windows and other fixtures to prepare the buildings for the wrecking ball.

The late bid to save the houses has sparked emotion in St Heliers, including a petition signed by more than 1000 locals, a packed public meeting, and calls by heritage campaigners and others for the new Auckland Council to draw a line in sand.

Dr Gabriel Reid said during his 42 years of living in St Heliers he had seen "successive spineless, toothless" councils pay heritage values no heed.

Another resident, Georgina Mallone, said St Heliers would lose its village feel and in 10 years would resemble the Gold Coast.

Immediately after the vote, Dorothy McHattie, of the Art Deco Society, accused the council of being "absolutely lily-livered. They have no guts."

She said it was wrong for officers to tell councillors that the council would have to buy the buildings, saying a heritage order was an immediate stay of execution to negotiate a solution with the Markhams.

One option was to keep the houses and move the development to other land in Turua St owned by the Markhams, she said.

All Black coach Graham Henry and his wife Raewyn, who live nearby, were walking past the development when the protest began. The couple talked to the group, asking who the developer was and where he lived.

HOW THEY VOTED

FOR A HERITAGE ORDER
Cameron Brewer, Cathy Casey, Sandra Coney, Christine Fletcher, Mike Lee, Sharon Stewart, Wayne Walker.

AGAINST A HERITAGE ORDER
Len Brown, Penny Hulse, Arthur Anae, Alf Filipaina, Michael Goudie, Ann Hartley, Des Morrison, Richard Northey, Calum Penrose, Noelene Raffills, Jami-Lee Ross, Sir John Walker, Penny Webster, George Wood.

ON THE WEB
'Save Turua Street' on Facebook

-additional reporting Vaimoana Tapaleao and Herald online