Media releasesNorth Shore City Council acts to protect heritage of business communities
May 13, 2008
The North Shore City Council is working to fast-track the protection of the city’s heritage areas.
The Strategy and Finance Committee today voted unanimously to set up a working group to look at protecting buildings in the heritage areas of Devonport, Northcote Point and Birkenhead.
Committee Chair Councillor Grant Gillon says the city’s heritage areas are being eroded and diminished and the council can’t afford to wait two to three years for action via the District Plan process.
The committee has agreed that a process and urgent timeline will be established for a variation to the Urban Design Code, which will apply to the redevelopment of business 1 zoned sites abutting or surrounded by the residential 3 zone which includes Birkenhead and Northcote Points and Devonport.
“We want to ensure that businesses are compatible and in scale with the prevailing heritage character of the residential buildings around them and that they have proper objectives and policies in place as part of the city’s Urban Design Code,” says Councillor Gillon.
Mayor Andrew Williams says it is incredible residential properties in Heritage residential zones can’t even change a door without consent but a single storey commercial property right next door can build a multi storey business out of keeping with its surroundings. It is all about respect for the Shore’s heritage”, he says.
“We don’t have a lot of heritage zones on the North Shore and it is imperative that we initiate safeguards before we lose anymore of our history,” says Mayor Williams.
A working group consisting of the Mayor, Councillors Holman and Gillon who moved and seconded the motion respectively, Councillor Hale and Councillor Darby will report back to a full Council meeting next week before a full report is assessed at the next Strategy and Finance committee.
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