Auckland demolition lifted

Heritage Architects Salmond Reed will review plans by the Auckland City Council to lift demolition controls on thousands of old homes in many of the city's leafy suburbs...

Both sides in the heritage battle covering the Residential 2 zone of Remuera, Epsom, Parnell, Herne Bay, Mt Albert, St Heliers and Kohimarama have reached a verbal agreement after months of talks overseen by Mayor John Banks.

Under the agreement, Salmond Reed will review most of the pre-1940 homes that a council survey said should be excluded from demolition controls introduced by the previous council.

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.

The survey will also review houses where people have opposed the demolition controls. Protected houses that have attracted positive feedback or no feedback will not be reviewed.

The agreement also includes criteria for assessing buildings proposed for demolition, criteria for assessing new buildings in the zone and criteria for assessing alterations or additions to existing houses.

Kate Tolmie-Bowden, of Parnell Heritage, believed a solution had been found that would work well and provide protection to more houses.

She said Salmond Reed were experts in heritage architecture and ensure any character areas were protected.

"But those properties that don't contribute significantly to the streetscape will have the opportunity for people to make changes," she said.

Derek Nolan, one of three Remuera lawyers opposed to the new rules introduced by the previous council requiring people to gain resource consent before removing or demolishing pre-1940 homes in the zone, said the agreement was a more rational and sensible approach.

The drafted criteria were excellent and would be clearer for people to follow, Mr Nolan said.

Both Kate Tolmie-Bowden and Mr Nolan praised Mr Banks for bringing everyone round the table and reaching an outcome.

Mr Banks said the outcome was a victory for common sense that came about after the parties put aside some of their stridency at the margins.

"I think we have come up with a sound and sensible proposition that is going to preserve the very best of our architectural heritage without severely compromising property rights in a democracy," he said.

Salmond Reed will undertake the survey in the New Year. It will be run by director Jeremy Salmond, who chaired the working party that came up with the agreement.

Affected people will be notified and there is the ability for a peer review where there was "significant debate".

Source: NZ Herald