AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL

MEDIA RELEASE

12 January 2007

Heritage a winner in 2006

Auckland City moved to protect nearly 80 historic buildings last year as part of its ongoing efforts to preserve the city’s heritage for future generations to enjoy.

The buildings were identified as part of the council’s work to assess approximately 550 buildings in Auckland’s central area, its isthmus and in the gulf islands in 2006.

As a result, 25 buildings were notified for protection in the isthmus and central area, while 52 were notified for protection as part of the proposed Hauraki Gulf islands district plan.

In addition, more than 380 trees, and ecological, geological and archaeological sites were notified for protection last year.

This brings the total number of built and natural heritage items protected by the council to more than 1800.

The chairperson of the council’s Environment, Heritage and Urban Form Committee, Councillor Christine Caughey, says this is evidence of a strong commitment to heritage.

“To initiate the process to protect 80 buildings in one year is an excellent achievement and demonstrates the fact that heritage is an important priority.

“In this day and age, I think many people have become more aware of the importance of preserving our past and treasuring both the built and natural environment.

“It is also important that heritage conservation is undertaken in a way which allows protected buildings to be adapted for economic and sustainable reuse. The council’s actions reflect this philosophy,” Ms Caughey says.

“It’s reassuring to know that work is underway to proactively identify buildings and natural features that need to be assessed and, if they meet the grade, protected.”

Ms Caughey says the council’s approach is to offer stringent protection for heritage items and to provide clear rules and regulations to help preserve character buildings.

The chairperson of the Planning and Regulatory Committee, Councillor Glenda Fryer, says the council has taken steps to protect the city’s character by introducing “character overlays” to help preserve the built environment of some of Auckland’s more traditional town centres, such as Kingsland and upper Symonds Street.

She says changes have also been introduced to protect the character of the city’s more traditional neighbourhoods (Residential 1 and 2 zones) and to protect the built and natural environment of neighbourhoods on volcanic cones and coastal cliffs (Residential 3).

“The council is acting on two fronts to protect both the city’s heritage and its character. Preserving character, such as traditional town centres and neighbourhoods, is an important part of retaining the overall appearance of Auckland as a city.

“These changes also ensure that new buildings in these areas are designed in such a way so that they’re compatible with the existing character. They’re important additions to the suite of measures the council uses to preserve the city’s built environment,” Ms Fryer says.

The council will continue with its programme to assess buildings which may be worthy of heritage protection this year.

Ms Caughey says, “We will always act to protect genuine heritage items and the system we use to score historic items is robust and transparent because it needs to stand up to legal scrutiny.

“In determining whether to protect a historic building, the council also considers the rights of private property owners because scheduling has a big impact on what they can do with their property,” Ms Caughey says.

She says it is also important to remember that proactive protection is inevitably successful, whereas reactive protection (when a building is under threat) is much more difficult.

Ms Caughey says the council also provides assistance to the owners of heritage buildings by offering free advice and through a fund to help with the cost of repair and maintenance.

ENDS

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