The Hutt City Council has added over 80 new houses to the proposed heritage area on the Petone Foreshore without consulting residents, which the Hutt Voluntary Heritage Group (VHG) says could breach the Local Government Act.

The extension was made in response to a request from a few individual submitters to include Bay Street, King Street, Richmond Street, and Nelson Street in the Petone Foreshore Heritage area – one of 10 proposed heritage areas in the Hutt to mitigate the Government’s intensification law.

The Council Officer responded by recommending the Petone Foreshore heritage area be extended to include over 80 houses in Beach Street and Bay Street.

The shocking discovery was made by the VHG while analysing the 176-page Council Officers Report. VHG Convenor Phil Barry says the extension is unacceptable as they were not part of the original proposal, and therefore homeowners have not been adequately consulted.

“An additional 82 homeowners are now impacted by the new heritage area rules, many of which are likely not aware of the consequences for their property.”

“Residents on Bay and Beach Street won’t have an opportunity to have their say as submissions have already closed. This could breach the Council’s responsibilities under the Local Government Act.”

The Consultation Principles of the Local Government Act guide consultation processes to ensure communities receive information, engagement opportunities, and the ability to express their opinions.

Barry says this has not been done.

“Sneaking in over 80 more households into an already underway process goes against every principle set out for consultations in the Local Government Act.

“Mayor Campbell Barry and his Councillors should be ashamed and start asking questions of the Council’s planning team right now.”

“The Council should walk back the extension and apologise.”

“At the absolute least, the Council should invite homeowners to submit at the hearings taking place this month, which are currently only accessible to previous submitters – those included in the heritage areas from the beginning.”

The Council Officer has discretion to add and remove individual properties from the proposed heritage areas in response to submissions, but Barry says the addition of two whole streets is extraordinary and requires new consultation.

“82 families are probably still under the impression that they have escaped the Council’s intensification controls.”

“It’s simply not acceptable that these people would find out their house is subject to strict new heritage rules, without ever being given a chance to say something about it.”

“When the consultation principles are ignored like they are here, the trust between council and community is eroded.”

Barry says the Hutt City Council wants to avoid consultation because it knows the heritage areas would not stand up to scrutiny, and it’s hastily trying to limit the effects of Government-sanctioned intensification.

“The inclusion of Bay and Beach Street is consistent with the Council’s crusade against intensification in the area.

“The Council Officer’s acceptance of these areas, based on the belief that the ‘practical effect of the Petone Foreshore Heritage Area is to limit building height and density to existing levels,’ is just pretext for the council’s anti-intensification agenda.

“The Council’s actions throughout the entire process demonstrate that it does not care in the slightest about preserving any supposed heritage value of Petone homes.

“This strategy of forcing residents into heritage areas so the Council can display some semblance of control over housing density exhibits a complete disregard for the community it serves.”

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