News Release Office of the Mayor
17 January 2011
Mayor expresses regret over Turua Street
The Mayor has expressed his regret that Auckland Council has apparently not been able to find an affordable way to save
three houses in St Heliers despite weeks of hard work and negotiations between the council, the developer and local
residents.
Len Brown says he is determined that this kind of issue not be repeated and to ensure the Auckland Plan protects our
built heritage.
"Auckland Council's hands were tied because of decisions of the Environment Court and previous councils," the Mayor
says. "Absolutely everything that could be reasonably and legally be done was done in this case, but unfortunately, that
was not enough.
Len Brown says in the end the developer would only sell all of his properties in the area in one block, for a price
which included full recovery of costs and margin. "That could have cost more than $10 million.
"While you can't put a price on preserving our city's heritage, it is difficult to justify this sort of unplanned cost."
The possibility of including the facades of the properties in the new development was also discussed, but unfortunately,
agreement could not be reached on that either.
It has been suggested that a heritage order could save the properties. "Auckland Council staff spent a great deal of
time looking at this, but it was clear the buildings did not have the heritage qualities necessary to issue a heritage
order and once again, that decision would have resulted in the council being taken to court and potentially ended up
costing ratepayers millions of dollars."
"We have done everything we could have, given the outcome of the process to date, including the plan change which was
handed down by the Environment Court," says the Mayor. "We will do everything reasonable in our power to ensure this
doesn't happen again."
ENDS