Heritage battlers confident of saving area's character

Herne Bay residents have lost the battle to stop two Victorian villas being removed from their street but say they are quietly confident of winning the war to protect the character of the suburb from the slow creep of modern houses.

They were responding to Friday's announcement by Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard and Action Hobson councillor Christine Caughey for sweeping changes affecting 16,300 homes in character neighbourhoods.

The Herne Bay residents were appalled last year to learn that two turn-of-the-century villas apparently protected under a "character zone" were not protected from removal by neighbours Andrew Body and Karen Paterson.

The residents formed the Herne Bay Peninsula Group, collected 182 signatures around the neighbourhood, and lobbied the Auckland City Council for change.

Their disbelief at a loophole allowing houses to be demolished or removed in character areas coincided with a battle by Parnell residents to stop an Edwardian home in St Stephens Ave being removed for apartments.

Local body elections at the time produced a strong vote for pro-heritage candidates.

Mr Hubbard said the proposed changes to the district plan would bring an end to the "days of people waking up and finding the bulldozers have gone into the house next door".

Under the proposals, the demolition or removal of any building constructed before 1940 in residential 1 and 2 zones would require a resource consent.

The council will look at the condition of any building in the zones, see if it is capable of being restored or renovated and look at its contribution to the overall street.

Written approval would be needed from neighbours.

Other proposed changes include relaxing landscaping controls to allow more off-street parking and lowering fence heights.

Christine Caughey said a survey of 1000 residents in the two character zones found overwhelming support for greater controls. If new homes were built - residential 2 zones still permit subdivision - they would have to reflect the character and quality of the local heritage in the area, she said.

Peninsula group members are delighted the new council has gone so far so quickly but say the measures are still proposals open for public comment by developers and others.

"We would hate to see the measures watered down," said Natalie Leng, who lives across the road from the threatened villas.

The houses have yet to be removed from the plots they have occupied for 100 years after consents to take them away was given last October. A building consent for a new house was issued on March 18.

Karen Paterson did not want to talk about the matter, saying neighbours were acting "in their ignorance without really knowing about what we are going to do". She declined to spell out the plans.

Galatea Tce resident Ingrid Galloway was philosophical about the loss of the two villas but was delighted to see an end in sight to the "mish-mash" of old and new houses in favour of preserving the old in suburbs such as Herne Bay.

Western Bays councillor Penny Sefuiva said it had taken community pressure last year for the council to act on heritage issues, unlike cities such as San Francisco, which protected old neighbourhoods 30 years ago.

Planning general manager John Duthie said the council had known about the demolition and removal loophole for some time but it had not been fixed because "council officers work to the work programme and the priorities set by the council".

The fine detail

New rules

* Demolition or removal of any building constructed before 1940 in residential 1 & 2 zones will require resource consent, which may be publicly notified and/or require the written approval of neighbours.
* Council will check the condition of the building to see if restoration or renovation is practical, and how the building fits in with the character of the street.
* Resource consent will be required for external additions and alterations in residential 1 & 2 and must be in keeping with the character of the area.
* Front-yard landscaping controls in residential 1 will be cut from 60 to 50 per cent to allow more off-street parking.
* Height-to-boundary controls in residential 1 on corner sites to produce less dominant buildings.
* 1.4m height restriction on fences in residential 2 and up to 1.8m where 40 per cent of the fence is transparent.

Old rules

* Houses in residential 1 & 2 could be demolished or removed without resource consent.
* No height-to-boundary controls on corner site developments in residential 1.
* 2m height restriction on fences in residential 2.

Residential 1

* 8718 houses
* Character zone applied largely to Victorian and Edwardian houses on small sections, including large areas of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, St Marys Bay, Freemans Bay and Mt Eden. Smaller pockets in Ellerslie, Onehunga, Parnell, Avondale and Otahuhu.

Residential 2

* 7598 houses
* Character zone applied largely to Victorian and Edwardian houses on large sections. Residential 2a and 2c have lower housing densities and an abundance of landscaping and trees. Residential 2b generally has higher housing densities and building coverage. Residential 2 houses are mostly found in Mt Albert, Herne Bay, Epsom, One Tree Hill, Parnell, Remuera, Kohimarama and St Heliers.