House haulers fighting demolition controls

Auckland City Mayor John Banks is making protection of architectural heritage part of his bid to be mayor of the Super City. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Demolition controls on thousands of early homes in traditional working class suburbs such as Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and Mt Eden are being challenged in court by the Heavy Haulage Association.

The association is unhappy about blanket controls in the suburbs after being part of an agreement brokered by Auckland City Mayor John Banks for a more focused approach in many of the city's leafy suburbs.

It wants a return to the days of people being able to remove or demolish old homes without obtaining a resource consent or notifying neighbours.

Mr Banks, who is making protection of architectural heritage part of his bid to be mayor of the Super City, said yesterday the Residential 1 working class suburbs were critical to the character of the city. "The council will be vigorously defending its position in the Environment Court to protect the city's character and heritage," he said.

Barrister Stuart Ryan said the association was not seeking to challenge all heritage controls, but believed the council's blanket approach was not sufficiently focused.

He said the controls meant owners having to spend $20,000 to $30,000 on planning and architectural fees just to find out if they could do major work on their properties.

City planning manager Penny Pirrit said the council was holding firm on blanket controls on about 8700 pre-1940 houses in the Residential 1 suburbs because very few did not have some kind of building character.

This was different to Residential 2 suburbs, such as Parnell, Remuera and Herne Bay, where an emphasis on streetscape and landscape called for a more focused approach.

Kate Tolmie-Bowden, of Parnell Heritage, and St Marys Bay resident Peter Watts, both of whom were part of the Residential 2 agreement, were shocked at the association's legal tactics.

Ms Tolmie-Bowden said there was a feeling throughout the negotiations that it was the Residential 2 suburbs that needed addressing and the Residential 1 suburbs were safe.

Mr Watts said it was important that the cohesive character of the oldest part of the city, such as Ponsonby, was maintained.

Penny Pirrit said as a result of the agreement brokered by Mr Banks in December, heritage architect Jeremy Salmond had reviewed maps of pre-1940 houses in the Residential 2 zone.

The lifting of demolition controls on 4128 of the 8112 houses in the zone sparked a public outcry and the intervention of Mr Banks to find a solution.