In the rural quiet of Waiwera Valley, amidst the bucolic beauty of rolling hills and pastoral splendour, a towering Buddhist statue is taking shape much to the upset of neighbours. David Fisher reports.
A towering Buddhist statue is set to disturb the pastoral peace of Waiwera Valley with neighbours upset Auckland Council approved its construction without seeking their input.
Atop a plinth, the statue will stand around 16.5 metres - more than 50 feet - when building is finished.
It sits at the peak of a 60 metre-high hilltop and, when completed, will shine a brilliant gold in the morning sun.
Neighbours only learned of the building plans in recent months and urgently asked Auckland Council why they had not had their say on the huge statue likely to fill the view when they draw back curtains each morning.
The answer - to their amazement and horror - was that the statue of Buddhist master Guru Rinpoche had been submitted as a work of art and been accepted by Auckland Council as no resource consent was needed.
And so, with no resource consent process, there was no obligation to tell neighbours and, it turns out, no way to successfully challenge council’s decision.
Waiwera Valley, north of Auckland, is a sleepy rural haven untouched by city life yet less than an hour’s drive in to the central city.
For some who live there, the peace and quiet of country life is a major drawcard they now fear is threatened.
Neighbours have already witnessed a gathering and ceremony at the foot of the statue site, with chanting, cymbals and drums captured on video.
Resident David Pennington described the statue as a “monstrosity” and said neighbours had formed the Waiwera Valley Action Group to fight against it.
“It’s horrifying, it’s absolutely horrifying. The thought that anybody could imagine putting a 16.5m golden Buddhist statue in the middle of a rural valley would be an acceptable thing to do without talking to any of the neighbors … is quite frankly appalling.”
He said the nature of the “picturesque rural” valley was threatened, not only by the towering structure on a prominent hill but the potential for it to attract large numbers of people wanting to see it.
Pennington said homeowners feel vulnerable and sidelined by a council process that has allowed the construction of the plinth and statue without any input from neighbours because those building it had described it as art.
The Auckland Unitary Plan - Auckland Council’s manual for the development and use of the city’s land - says art in rural areas does not need to go through a resource consent process.
The problem is there is no definition of what art is
That means a structure can simply be built without wider consultation if it is accepted as “art” by council.
“The problem is there is no definition of what art is,” Pennington said. “Calling something art which is 16-and-a-half metres tall and putting it prominently on a hill where it’s going to dominate the entire area around - that’s a planning loophole.
“We can’t get council to change their mind. Their response is, because it’s artwork and it falls within the Auckland unitary plan, then they are obliged to approve it.”
Waiwera Valley resident Klaudia Batten - a 27-year local - said the process followed for the statue could be repeated in any rural neighbourhood across the city.
“Anything can be erected and called artwork, and there’s just no guidelines to protect yourself from it. It wasn’t open to public discussion. It was done behind closed doors.”
It was Batten who uncovered the existence of the statue plan after rumours started flying around local Facebook pages.
Her inquiry with council quickly put fact to rumour as she discovered copies of the application for a Certificate of Compliance and architecturally-drawn plans for the proposed statue.
On seeing the plans, Batten said she was “absolutely horrified … because it’s clearly not artwork”.
“I would define artwork as something you see on the Gibbs farm, you know, something abstract, but this is clearly a religious deity that’s very revered in their religion and a clearly-defined building.”
The plans revealed the organisation behind the project is Jeta’s Grove Charitable Trust, a member of the NZ Buddhist Council. Its founding documents filed with the Charities Register declare it exists to spread and teach the Buddhist faith.
They say: “The activity will take place in the temple/retreat centre in Puhoi and other venues as decided by the trust.“ Puhoi village is a few kilometres to the North of Waiwera Valley but is not home to a Buddhist retreat, sparking the Waiwera Valley residents’ concerns it may refer to the statue and plinth.
A lawyer acting for Jeta’s Grove Charitable Trust - named for Jetavana, a famous Buddhist monastery - sent a statement saying: “Our client advises that the statue is a gift, intended as a symbol of peaceful harmony for all faiths, while promoting the ethics and teaching of the Buddha.”
Russell McVeagh special counsel Brigette Shone said - in relation to consultation with neighbours - the trust had done all it was legally required to do.
Land Information NZ records show the land in Waiwera Valley on which the statue and plinth sit belong to Nature Trustee Ltd whose sole director and shareholder is Remuera resident Shaoying Li.
The Herald has made contact with her through Charles Li, who lives at the same Remuera address, and sent questions by email. There has been no response as yet.
Auckland councillor Greg Sayers has taken up the residents’ cause, describing the piece as “towering over all these neighbours’ properties”.
“The actual location of it probably isn’t appropriate and they will have to endure looking at it. The works are permitted. The community can’t stop them. They’ve built it in the neighbour’s face. It’s inconsiderate.”
He referred to the Gibbs farm, less than 30 minutes’ drive away, saying: “When you go past Gibbs, you can’t really see it from the road.”
When Sayers raised the religious aspect of it with council planners and questioned if the Buddhist statue was art, they referred him to Michelangelo’s religious works which include the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the famous sculpture of the biblical David.
In a letter to a lawyer hired by the residents’ group, Auckland Council head of resource consents James Hassall pointed to a recent Environment Court ruling which said a shipping container with wooden window frames and a door - intended to raise awareness of housing shortages - was art.
In the letter, Hassall said the Certficate of Compliance had the effect of a resource consent but specifically did not have the “usual review provisions” so “once issued, the council cannot overturn it”.
He said it was not clear what further information was needed to confirm the statue was an artwork “given there is no definition in the Auckland Unitary Plan and that the applicant is entitled to a broad interpretation of the term”.
Hassall said the artwork rule applied in rural zones as long as it met other rules, which the statue did.
However, he said if the statue led to the site being used as a place of religious worship then it likely it would need resource consent. If that was the case, he said “it is also possible that the structure would no longer be considered a permitted artwork”. If it had to be removed, the job of doing so would sit with the consent holder.
Hassall said there was an inquiry underway into concerns earthworks around the statue had gone over the allowed area. He said there were also inquiries into “concerns over gatherings that have taken place on the site during construction”.
Massey University’s Professor Heather Galbraith - whose expertise includes art criticism and public art - said: “Religious and ecclesiastic sculpture has been around for millenia.”
Galbraith said there was a high degree of subjectivity involved - what might be art for some could “leave someone else cold”.
Artist and associate professor Richard Reddaway, also at Massey University, said the problem appeared to be with council rules allowing art to bypass the consenting process.
“It’s been pretty much established that art can be anything. Whether it’s art or not is not the point - it’s that it’s impacting on the community.”
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004.
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