Media release
Cameron Brewer – Councillor for Orakei
Thursday, 6 January 2011
St Heliers houses d ebacle a big lesson for new council

Local Orakei councillor Cameron Brewer says the six-year process deciding the fate of the heritage homes on the Turua Street , St Heliers has been a debacle from start to finish , with the public and the new council effectively hapless spectators.

“We’ve got a very unhappy co mmunity and a very frustrated newly-elected council wh ich at best have been spectators in all of this.

“This whole issue has shown that Auckland ers’ highly value their built environment and the character of their villages. After years of desecration of Auckland’s built environment, people have had a guts full. Turua Street has really been a metaphor of a wider public mood.

“ For too long the Auckland public has been promised h eritage only to then have the likes of developers, private plan changes , and the E nvironment Court move the goal posts .

“The new council now has a unique inter-generational opportunity to step up on heritage matters . With the spatial plan, the amalgamation of district plans, and local board ’ area plans, we’ve got to establish heritage no-go zones that aren’t contestable in the future. Otherwise, why bother planning?

“The uproar over Turua Street has shown the new council that the public expects so much more when it comes to local heritage. In all the spatial and district planning that’s going on o ver the next couple years , concrete protection of our valued char a cter and heritage must be a priority ,” says Cameron Brewer, councillor for Orakei and chairman of the District Plan & Urban Design Panel.

Mr Brewer says he has supported the Save Turua Street grou p . He found them a free planning barrister, organised and attended meetings, has worked with the mayor’s office on the issues, and last month voted in support of a heritage protection order which ultimately failed.

Ends

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