Almighty row in posh Auckland suburb of Epsom over neighbour’s second attempt to demolish 1920s California bungalow

Opponents of the demolition of 22 Crescent rd, Epsom, from left to right, Character Coalition member John Burns, and residents Susie Wolf and Claire Colbert. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

A 1920s California bungalow is at the centre of an almighty row in the leafy suburb of Epsom involving wealthy neighbours, heritage groups, a powerful lawyer and AJ the cat.

Clair Connor owns the Crescent Rd bungalow near Cornwall Park valued at nearly $4 million and wants to demolish it and build a new home for herself and her ageing parents.

She declined to speak to the Weekend Herald about her plans and the local furore, choosing to issue a statement through a lawyer.

Up against her are many of her neighbours, two of whom have hired a specialist resource management litigator Bronwyn Carruthers KC; Heritage New Zealand, the Character Coalition, made up of 60 heritage and community groups; and the heritage team at Auckland Council.

Clair Connor's 1920s bungalow she wants to demolish to build a new house. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Connor is seeking resource consent to demolish the single-storey home with a 1990s extension and replace it with a two-storey “carefully designed” home with bungalow-period architectural features, a swimming pool, pool pavilion, and a three-car garage with a loft bedroom for her parents.

Her planning application said remediating and renovating the house is cost prohibitive and replacing it was the only feasible option. A heritage assessment for Connor said the new house related to neighbouring properties and enhanced the streetscape character.

This is the second attempt by Connor to test the rules aimed at protecting pre-1940 homes in Special Character Areas across the city.

Her first attempt in 2021 failed after residents got wind of the non-notified plans and filed a judicial review containing 13 affidavits, which led Connor to withdraw the application.

In February this year, Connor put in a fresh application to demolish the house, which this time has been publicly notified and opposed by Auckland Council’s heritage team on the grounds that it will “significantly harm the special character values of the area”.

The heritage team said the house is an “excellent representative of the bungalow style”, whereas the proposed house is “a haphazard composition of bungalow style features” with its relationship to the street marred by a bulky garage.

An architectural drawing of Clair Connor's proposed new house and garage.

What’s more, heritage staff said the application is “completely contrary” to the rules for demolishing buildings in Special Character Areas. The rules state building must be beyond repair, whereas Connor’s reasons for demolition are the house “is not suitable for the applicant’s needs”, they said.

“The application should be refused,” said built heritage team leader Rebecca Fox, adding approval would set a dangerous precedent and effectively mean any building in a Special Character Area could be demolished.

Connor’s statement from lawyer Peter Spring said her application had gone through a detailed assessment by leading planning consultants and heritage architects, plus a thorough assessment by Auckland Council before it was publicly notified.

“The conclusion reached by the applicant’s planning and heritage experts, and by the council’s consenting team, is that the proposed dwelling is appropriate in this location, and generally maintains and responds positively to the existing character values of the streetscapes and Special Character Area.

“The application complies with almost all bulk and location controls for the Single House Zone and Special Character overlay, with only a small number of minor infringements of discrete standards,” the statement said.

This assessment is not shared by several neighbours, including Tile Warehouse managing director Neville Colbert and his wife Claire, who live next door to Connor.

“I used to feed her cat AJ, just doing the neighbourly thing,” said Neville Colbert, who has lived in the street for 25 years.

He said Connor no longer talked to him and other neighbours who oppose her plans.

Another close neighbour, Susie Wolf, said she and her husband were made by the council to go through hoops to make changes to their home and were disappointed Connor had previously received consent to demolish and rebuild.

Leafy Crescent Rd in Epsom and Clair Connor's bungalow. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

“The house doesn’t need to be demolished. When we moved in here 20 years ago that was the prettiest house in the street ... and the gardens were beautiful,” said Wolf.

A third resident said Crescent Rd is a cul-de-sac with no through traffic leading on to Cornwall Park, filled with lovely character homes - “it’s a near perfect street to live in”.

The neighbour said Connor had already applied once unsuccessfully for permission to demolish the house. Her new application seemed to have very few changes “and here we go again”.

It’s a heritage zone, said the neighbour, saying a recent review of houses in the Special Character Areas scored Connor’s house 6 out of 6.

The Character Coalition’s John Burns said demolishing a fine example of a California bungalow and replacing it would devalue the special character of the area.

He said it appeared the council planners were not following their own rules or the advice of their own experts.

Heritage NZ is also planning to make a submission to oppose the application.

Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.