"Who is Auckland Mayor Dick Hubbard to call my house ugly?... The Auckland City Council has no place legislating taste in such an Orwellian manner. So long as my house doesn't look like Mr Hubbard's ties, it won't be ugly."
So fumes letter writer Bruce from Kingsland to the Herald
on news of the arrival of the Auckland City Council's long asked-for Urban Design Standards.
Fortunately, the council entirely agrees. Deputy mayor Dr Bruce Hucker says the standards have been developed by experts outside the council (architects, developers, design educators) and are focussed on good "neighbourly" building behaviour, not on subjective aesthetics. "This means buildings not impeding neighbours' light, privacy or safety - the very things that home-buyers value," says Dr Hucker.
The standards are attending to the areas that impact on the most people, such as the CBD and Victoria quarter neighbourhood, or multi-unit Residential 6 and 7 zones, not surburbia. Letter writer Bruce can rest assured that the council has already paid attention to heritage precincts (Residential 1 and 2) to ensure that the fabric and character of these special corners of Auckland remain intact. Dr Hucker says the democratic process enshrining the proposals into an annual plan (which allots money to particular urban design projects), and the longer term district plan (which looks at things like zoning requirements) will allow Bruce and other members of the public to have their say.
"What the council has committed to will make sure that the streets people live in or walk down are friendly, not closed off from each other by ugly carparks, bleak walls or driveways. Shop fronts, porches, and similar design features that create more people friendly areas is the goal," says Dr Hucker.
There will be a council culture change, but Bruce and his neighbours need not worry about taste police calling their houses ugly.
