Heritage cargo shed about-face 'spineless'

The national office of the Historic Places Trust has been called spineless by an Auckland politician for capitulating over the two 98-year-old cargo sheds on Queens Wharf.

Auckland Regional councillor Dr Joel Cayford says in a few days the national office changed tack from the position of its Auckland office, which was considering registering the sheds.

In a blog headed "Can We Trust the Historic Places Trust?", Dr Cayford wondered why New Zealand would "bother with an organisation that is so spineless at national level, and so unsupportive of genuine preservation work that its regional office was carrying out in Auckland".

On Tuesday, Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully and regional council chairman Mike Lee announced the two sheds would go for a temporary structure to act as party central for the Rugby World Cup and a cruise ship terminal.

The previous Friday, the trust's northern general manager Sherry Reynolds wrote to the regional council saying the trust was considering registering the cargo sheds and preliminary investigations indicated the sheds and wharf had significant heritage values.

At an extraordinary meeting on Monday to consider Queens Wharf, a majority of regional councillors voted to proceed with the temporary structure and to "dismantle" the sheds, reuse some of the materials and work with the trust on a heritage assessment of the wharf.

Shortly after Mr McCully and Mr Lee held a press conference on Tuesday, the national office issued a press release in the name of chief executive Bruce Chapman expressing disappointment at the decision to demolish the sheds.

The statement said an important part of New Zealand's maritime history would be lost but the trust would not be proceeding with registration.

Dr Cayford said the press release amounted to "complete capitulation" on the part of the trust: "No registration. No heritage assessment. No call for a heritage impact assessment."

"And right now these sheds, Auckland's heritage needs all the help it can get. The pressure and speed to dismantle/demolish them must be slowed so good sense can prevail.

"If we can't trust Auckland's heritage with the NZ Historic Places Trust, and we certainly can't trust ARC, who can we trust?" he said.

Speaking through a trust spokeswoman last night, Mr Chapman said although the trust was not proceeding with registration at this time, it did not mean registration could not happen in future.

"We have to have discussions with the Government and the ARC and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time," the spokeswoman said.

Asked about the change in tack, she said: "A week can be a long time when it comes to decisions being made."

She said Mr Chapman had not seen Dr Cayford's comment, nor did the trust comment on blogs.

The Auckland Architecture Association and Heart of the City have campaigned strongly to keep the sheds.

Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee has labelled the sheds "cheap and nasty when they were built and now they are old and cheap and nasty".

WHAT THEY SAID

April 15: "We are preparing a more in-depth heritage assessment of the cargo sheds and Queens Wharf with a view to potentially considering the place for registration."
Sherry Reynolds, trust northern regional manager.

April 20: "The NZHPT had been considering registration of the Queens Wharf, however will not be proceeding with this"
Bruce Chapman, trust chief executive